Bill King to Demonstrate Contrarian Embellishment for Central Virginia Woodturners

Bill King’s “An Introduction to Contrarian Embellishment” stood out because it was not a routine ornamentation talk, but a program that seemed built to make turners rethink what decoration should do. Central Virginia Woodturners scheduled the in-person demonstration for April 21, 2026, at the Crimora Community Center in Crimora, with the evening set to run from 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. for social time, 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. for club business, and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. for the program.

The title alone suggested a different kind of surface work, one that pushed beyond simple contrast or a familiar embellishment pattern. In woodturning, where shape and finish often define the final piece, a contrarian approach implied that Bill King was asking turners to question the usual instincts around texture, color, and presentation. That made the session especially relevant for people who already know their way around the lathe and want to push into design decisions that change how a vessel or bowl reads in the hand and on the shelf.

The April 21 program also fit neatly into a spring calendar that had already leaned toward technique-driven sessions. Central Virginia Woodturners had listed March 14’s Heart Bowl Class with Mike Sorge and March 17’s Embellishing a Wide-Rimmed Shallow Bowl with Stuart Furini, a run of programming that showed how closely the club tracks the decorative side of the craft. The group meets on the third Tuesday of each month from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., with the same Crimora location serving as the regular home base.

That home base matters because Central Virginia Woodturners serves a wide stretch of the Shenandoah Valley, from Charlottesville to Staunton to Harrisonburg, and says it has more than 100 active members. The club is a registered chapter of the American Association of Woodturners, which says it has more than 360 chapters worldwide and calls its annual symposium the biggest woodturning event in the world. Alongside the monthly meetings, CVW runs Skill Center and Mentoring Sessions on the second Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon, welcomes new and prospective members with no experience necessary, and holds Drop-in Saturday on the fourth Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon for members of all skill levels. The club store is open during those sessions, and the home page also noted a PowerMatic lathe donated by Hal Green’s widow and invited support for the HUGS Foundation, a reminder that the club’s education work is tied to a larger culture of generosity, hands-on teaching, and shared equipment.