Bill Neddow has developed an international reputation as a pure form wood turner. In his work, he strives for purity of line and simplicity of design, aimed at releasing and enhancing the beauty of the wood.

He has been working with wood for most of his life. However, 14 years ago  he started wood turning and quickly realized that this could be the source of endless creativity. It freed him from the confines of pre-cut materials. Wood became a multi-dimensional, moldable material with unlimited possibilities.

Creating bowls, platters, vases and other items became a passion. So did collecting interesting woods and the study of design. Japanese art provided the inspiration for beauty through simplicity and imposed a sense of discipline. This has probably been the most importance influence in his work. But he has studied classic Grecian, Roman and Mesopotamian work. He also was influenced by African art and culture. The sophisticated merging of the spiritual and physical aspects of life in Africa have had a major impact, especially in the sculptural pieces.

He finds he is most comfortable when seeking beauty through simplicity. Purity of line brings a natural elegance to his work and lets the wood grain speak for itself. The goal is to create shapes that are a balance of harmony and tension. The harmony in the form gives a sense of comfort and pleasure. The tension adds interest and surprise. He will decorate his bowls, using carving, gold leaf, colours and even ebonizing. These enhancements are the current passion with woodturners. However, he will only do it to enhance the natural beauty of the piece, or add to the theme he is developing. The enhancements are never allowed to overwhelm the work.

As a wood turner, Bill is mainly self-taught. However, he has attended a number of woodturning seminars and courses where he has been influenced by world-class turners like David Ellsworth, Richard Raffin and Bill Luce. His broad experience of working wood also keeps him from thinking of himself solely as a wood turner. This gives tremendous freedom to explore and create. This has resulted in a series of sculptures exploring creativity, truth and morality.

In recent years he has also started teaching wood turning techniques. He can offer day-long sessions on advanced wood turning techniques, as well as sessions on a host of other subjects including basic bowl turning, tool use and tool steels (what to buy), advanced high-speed sanding, the most efficient regular sanding techniques, harvesting wood and keeping it (and bowls) from cracking, making bottle stoppers, etc. He has demonstrated both nationally and internationally. The photo shows him as a guest presenter at the Turning 2007 symposium in Ohio. Some of the sanding techniques he uses and presented at the symposium were written up in an article in the summer 2008 edition of Woodturning Design.  He also wrote an article for the magazine (Spring 2010) on his new high-speed sanding techniques. He also teaches Advanced Bowl Turning at Lee Valley Tools.

In 2010,  he was one of 11 member of the 13,600-member American Association of Woodturners invited  to create a work for a special exhibition, called "Maple Medley" (There was also a "juried" component to the show with an additional 33 people being chosen to be part of the event.)  This show is now touring galleries in the United States.

One of his bowls is featured in a recent book entitled 500 Wood Bowls recently released by Lark Books (ISBN1-57990-483-1). It is an international selection of bowls, chosen by Ray Leier and Jan Peters of del Mano gallery of Los Angeles and Kevin Wallace, an independent curator.

He also is featured in a two-page article entitled "Super Bowl Maker" in the November 2004 issue of Woodturning Magazine. The British magazine is the most widely distributed of its type in the world.More recently, two of his bowls were featured in the February 2008 issue of the same magazine. One of his bowls was also featured in the Spring 2008 issue of WoodTurning Design, the largest of the American wood turning magazines.

One of his sculptures was chosen for the 2005 juried exhibition called Convergence at the Tom Thompson Memorial Art Gallery. It also won an Honourable Mention at the awards ceremony. The show draws on both established and emerging artists from all over Ontario.

His bowls have been favorably critiqued by panels of internationally-known woodturners at many national and international woodturning symposiums.  These include: David Ellsworth, Stuart Batty, Andi Wolf, Cindy Drozda, David Nittmann, Nick Cook and Mark Sfirri. In 2008, at the American Association of Woodturners symposium in Richmond Virginia, one of his pieces was used by Todd Hoyer during his demonstration as an excellent example of how to make a bowl.

Awards include "Best in Show" "Excellence in Originality" First Second and Third prizes, and a number of "Honourable Mentions" at the Ottawa Wood Show national turning competitions. In 2007 he was one of the judges at this competition. He also won the Brian Larkin Memorial trophy for pure form woodturning in 2005, 2006 and 2008 (each time he has entered the competition).

His work is available at The Guild Shop in Toronto, Cornerstone in Kingston, Artemesia, in Westport, 3 Yellow Tulips Art Shoppe in Pakenham,  The Grotto Artworks, in Merrickville and the Kanata Civic Art Gallery. He takes part in group shows at art galleries, as well as studio tours and a number of juried art shows in Eastern Ontario. These include the Maple Run, Pakenham;  the Red Trillium Tour, Ottawa; the Sundance Studio Tour, Maberly; and the Crown and Pumpkin tour in Clayton.    He has also had solo shows at Snapdragon in Ottawa (2004) and Cornerstone (2005 and 2007).

He is a member of  The Wood Turning Center (Philadelphia), the American Association of Woodturners, the Kanata Civic Art Gallery, and the Pakenham Arts and Crafts Association. He serves on the executive of the Valley Woodturners, the woodturning club for the Ottawa region.

The purchase of his first lathe coincided with Bill’s retirement from the Federal Government where he was Chief of Operations responsible for publications (such as the Federal budget) at Finance Canada.