Collection: Jerry Wedekind

Jerry Wedekind combines his love of the outdoors with his quest to find the perfect aspen burls for his large, unique wood turnings.

Jerry was first drawn to woodturning after seeing beautiful burls of redwood on a trip to California shortly after graduating from Southern Illinois University. He then settled in Colorado, borrowed a lathe, and began turning the natural burls of the trees native to the Southwest.

Jerry finds his potential turning pieces while hiking and biking the high country of Colorado. He will also take to the air to search out potential burls to use, recording the locations with a GPS unit, then, later, hiking to retrieve the pieces he has spotted. Sometimes getting the burl out of the wilderness can turn into an adventure of logistics. Jerry harvests only from standing dead trees that have aged to a fine and mellow richness of the wood. Jerry’s work is displayed in several prestigious galleries throughout the Southwest.