John Jordan is a woodturner from Cane Ridge (Nashville), Tennessee. Known primarily for his textured and carved hollow vessels, John has been featured in many major turning exhibitions in the past thirty years. His work has received numerous awards, and is in the permanent collections of many museums and corporations, including the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the American Craft Museum in New York City, the White House in Washington, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Mint Museum of Craft + Design in Charlotte, the Fine Arts Museum in Boston, and the Detroit Institute of the Arts and the prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England.
John is in great demand as a demonstrator/teacher, traveling extensively teaching at universities, craft schools, turning groups and trade shows throughout the US, Canada, the UK, France, New Zealand, Australia and Japan, including an annual week or two at world famous Arrowmont school of Arts and Crafts, Anderson Ranch Arts Center and Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine.
His work is frequently seen in publications in several countries as well as articles written by him. In addition to his most recent video on the aesthetics and properties of wood, he has also produced two previous best selling woodturning videos, which received very favorable reviews.
John's pieces are initially turned on the lathe, from fresh, green logs, using a number of techniques and tools that have evolved over the years. Each piece is then hand carved and textured, using a variety of different hand and small powered tools. This texturing process is very labor intensive, and can take as much as several days to weeks to complete. There is little room for error during this carving- one small slip can ruin the piece. A light lacquer finish is applied to most pieces, including the dyed work.
