Cascade Woodturners to Host Trent Bosch’s Vessels of Illusion Demo

Trent Bosch’s vessels can make a lathe blank look as if it has been woven, pierced or built from another material entirely, which is exactly why Cascade Woodturners put his Vessels of Illusion demo at the center of its April calendar.

Cascade scheduled Bosch for Thursday, April 16, 2026, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. PDT, with the demonstration presented as a live Zoom meeting hosted at Wild Lilac Center in Portland and shown on the club’s TVs and speakers. The setup kept the event firmly in the club’s hybrid era, letting members attend in person at Wild Lilac Child Development Center on SE 74th Avenue or watch remotely from home. Cascade normally meets there on the third Thursday of the month, except in December.

Bosch brings plenty of name recognition to that slot. His Vessels of Illusion series is one of the signature bodies of work on his site, and he has been woodturning professionally for more than 25 years. He began exploring the craft while pursuing a Fine Arts degree at Colorado State University, a background that helps explain why his work often leans sculptural rather than strictly functional. His 2021 American Association of Woodturners symposium material also tied his Sienna Series back to Vessels of Illusion, but said it used a different technique, another reminder that Bosch keeps pushing the same visual idea in new directions.

The April date also landed within a club calendar that stayed busy beyond one headline demo. Cascade listed an open shop at Dale Larson’s place for April 25, followed by Neil Seigel demonstrating ladles and spoons on May 21 and Rick Rich demonstrating TurmKreisels and tops on June 18. That spread gives the month a practical rhythm: one major showcase of illusion turning, then shop time and demonstrations that move from hollow forms and surface work into smaller, more playful turning projects.

Cascade’s broader offerings make the April run even more useful. The club says it supports turners with a newsletter, videos of prior demonstrations, a discussion forum, a buy-sell forum, member photo files, a lending library, a store with woodturning supplies and a raffle of turnable wood. It also welcomes beginners and experienced turners alike, while keeping a virtual door open for members who are farther away.

That combination of access, resources and a demonstrator as visually distinctive as Bosch is what made April stand out. Basket illusion remains a long-running style that still has energy in the woodturning world, and Bosch’s work keeps proving why that kind of visual trickery still pulls turners in.