CAW_Annual Fundraiser_2014 FINAL

Decades with Ron Fleming This November we celebrate the Center’s 28th year as a nonprofit and our third year in our busy Old City location. What a whirlwind and what fun it’s been! This fall, we are so pleased to honor Ron Fleming of Tulsa, Oklahoma, for two reasons—his service to the Center in its formative years and for his evolving skills as an artist and role model. Soon after the Center’s incorporation in 1986, Ron became one of a dozen volunteer Trustees on the new Board of Trustees. Following a college education as a civil engineer, Ron ran an independent practice as a graphic designer. As a Leftie, he had astonishing drawing and painting skills, all before computers took over every day work and home life. This says it all: “He was raised on a hog and rabbit farm in central Oklahoma, discovered an airbrush in the closet of a high school art class, asked his art teacher what it was, and went on to become one of the nation’s top airbrush illustrators. Budweiser, Coors, Telex, ZEBCO and RJ Reynolds—to name a few—have used his illustrations.” (Insights and Inspirations: Turned Wood by Ron and Patti Fleming, 2011, introduction by Doug Hicks) As a volunteer, Ron traveled to Board Meetings in Philadelphia, and we turned to him to design the first-ever logo for the Wood Turning Center. Shown here, the logo featured a turning tool on a tool rest shaping a round object creating a pile of shavings. Ron also designed early Center brochures and other branding logos—all pro bono. Throughout his life, Ron has loved nature, and eventually started using a lathe to shape wood objects and vessels. On these he hand carved leaves and flowers inspired by nature and his wife Patti’s long summer flower borders. His drawings and airbrush painting soon found their way onto the turned and carved objects. If he needed a special tool, his engineering background facilitated the solution. Over the intervening 27 years, Ron’s art work has leap-frogged from wood turning and carving in medium and large scales, to casting his wood sculptures into bronze and glass. I’ve watched as Ron explores and masters each phase, and then turns to the next experiments. Ever the designer, Ron imagines, formulates and manipulates his visions into reality. This year, the Center honors Ron’s huge professional generosity to the Center and his outstanding signature artistic accomplishments. I rejoice in our friendship and delight in him being our 2014 honoree. Please join me in wishing Ron all the best in his next endeavors. Albert LeCoff co-founder and executive director Ron Fleming, Earth Offering, 1992. Buckeye burl, 9 x 23 x 20 in. Donated by Neil & Susan Kaye to The Center for Art in Wood’s museum collection. First official logo for the Center, designed by Ron Fleming 6 7 67

CAW_Annual Fundraiser_2014 FINAL

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