Willamette Valley Woodturners spotlights Elizabeth Weber for May meeting

Elizabeth Weber gave Willamette Valley Woodturners a May meeting built around range. The Seattle woodturner and carving instructor was set to demonstrate at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 14, 2026, at Salem Center 50+, and the club framed her around the kinds of projects working turners reach for first: bowls, spoons and boxes.

That mix matters because each form asks a different question at the lathe. Bowls put grain direction and proportion under the spotlight. Spoons demand thin sections, clean transitions and a feel for ergonomics. Boxes test lid fit, crisp edges and the discipline to keep small work elegant instead of fussy. Weber’s background gave the chapter a demonstrator who could move across all three in one evening rather than stay locked into a single project type.

Weber began woodworking in 2015, first making Arts & Crafts-style furniture before shifting into smaller objects. Her work now ranges from simple natural-finish forms to highly carved and painted pieces, and her May program, titled Exploring Colors and Textures, was described as a demonstration of adding texture and carving to turned work. The session was set to include inspiration, storyboards and workholding methods that support carving, a combination that offered members more than a finished showpiece. It offered a look at how a project gets designed and held together from the first idea through the carved surface.

Her profile in the woodturning world has grown well beyond Seattle. Weber is president of Seattle Woodturners and serves on that club’s board as program director and Women in Turning liaison. She also runs Icosa Woodworks, a one-woman shop in Seattle focused on bowls, boxes and spoons. The American Association of Woodturners recognized her with its 2023 Professional Outreach Program Artist Showcase, and Women in Turning featured her in a March 4, 2023 presentation alongside Nicole MacDonald. A craft-school bio says she has taught and demonstrated at schools and woodturning clubs across the country.

For a regional club, that made Weber a high-value draw. Willamette Valley Woodturners was not simply filling a calendar slot; it was putting a demonstrator in front of members whose work might benefit from a closer look at carving, color and texture as part of turned form. With bowls, spoons and boxes all in one program, Weber brought the kind of breadth that can carry a meeting and send turners home with fresh project ideas still rattling around in their heads.