There is so much material to write about that I’m not sure which to choose; I’m not sure what interests people.  

By way of background, I became interested in woodturning in about 1985.  I was having a conversation with Angela, my sister. I was 38; she was 26.  She was visiting our parents in the Brentwood Park section of West Los Angeles and commented that she had just bought a wood-turned bowl down at the Del Mano Gallery for $400.

I said: “What?”

She repeated what she had said and added, “It’s an art piece by Ron Kent.”

“You bought a wooden bowl for $400???” I exclaimed in astonishment.

“Yes. Next time you’re home, go down there and ask for Ray Leier. He’s one of the owners and he’ll show you some really beautiful bowls.”

I’m sure I said something like: “It’s going to be a cold day in Hell before I spend anything like $400 on a wood bowl.”

So, to condense a number of years into a paragraph, I met Ray and walked out with three bowls, one of which was a Ron Kent. One of the others was a Bill Hunter. The third was an Al Stirt. I met all these men—and others at their professional level—the next year when Ray asked if I wanted to join him in Knoxville, TN at the Arrowmont Crafts Studio for the first-ever conference of woodturners.  Ray was interested in becoming one of the only high-end American crafts stores to specialize in woodturning. By then, he was managing my growing collection of woodturnings and was interested in meeting these folks.

At the conference, one thing led to another and I found myself speaking with Ernie Conover and David Ellison—the putative organizers of the conference.  

“Ray tells me you guys have some interest in starting an association of woodturners.” I said.

“Well, yes we are.” David replied.

“My name is Bob Rubel and I know a bit about creating and running 501(c)(3) corporations. In fact, I have association management certification: I’m a ‘Certified Association Executive’ (CAE)  I can get you incorporated and filed for non-profit status within a couple of months, if you are interested.”

They were interested. They formed the governing board the next day. I returned to San Marcos, TX (where I then lived) and within two months had the organization running. I was the organization’s Administrator from inception until the Fall of 1988.

Here is a photo of some of the professional turnings in my collection.

Here are a few of my own turnings. These are a few of the small pieces we have out for display. I have a number of larger pieces, some up to the size of large salad-serving vessels.

Notes from my journal: During SAADE’s October meeting, there was a lot of talk about the Austin Mentor’s Program. Evidently, it’s an adjunct to SAADE, but a little apart. I don’t quite get it. Anyway, David Walker runs it and he has taken a liking to me and invited me to join a few others.

As I’ve now been “in the scene” for about six months, this is a great good fortune and good timing. This is really a new program. This is only the second year.  This time we get to spend about five hours with each of the assigned mentors, each of whom will teach us a single skill.

My schedule looks like this:

• December 2001: fire play
• January 2002: impact play—spanking, paddling, floggers
• February; DM certification training + first aid
• March: toybag basics
• April: CBT + clips and clamps
• May: electrical stimulation — violet wand and TENS
• June: rope bondage
• July: sensation play
• August: submissives’ round-table
• Sep: rough body play

(ADDED NOTE: David and I would go on to co-author and publish the first—and to this day the only—book on fire play. David had also co-founded SAADE, initially called: “School for Advanced American-style Dominants’ Education.”  It is an “education” club as opposed to GWNN, which remains a “play” club.  GWNN stands for “Group With No Name. You could be a member of this club without showing any ID. You could sign play party waivers with an “X.”

I had a very good experience in the Mentors Program. It enabled me to meet the most senior members of the Austin community right from the beginning of my BDSM life.  By the following October, I at least knew quite a bit about what I didn’t know, but knew who could bring me further along the path.)