About Front Range Woodturners

We are the Denver area chapter of the AAW (American Association of Woodturners) serving woodturners throughout Colorado’s Front Range.

Our Meetings

We meet on the first Tuesday of every month from 6:15 PM to 9:00 PM in the basement of Rockler Woodworking and Hardware, 2553 S Colorado Blvd, Denver, 80222.

Visitors are welcome to join us at one of our meetings to see what we are all about.

Upcoming Demonstrations

February – Roberto Ferrer – Fluted Bowl 

(Roberto is also teaching two classes: “Fluted Bowl-Antiquity”, and “Shavings and Milk Paint”)

Roberto Ferrer was born and raised in Mexico, where he was surrounded by art and crafts from the early age.

While drawing and painting were part of his everyday life, the love for wood as a medium was born in his childhood when he used to visit his cousin’s wood shop. But it was the colonial and baroque style architecture in his hometown that sparked the desire to one day be able to create sculptural work.

In his mid twenties he started carving sculptural bowls and vessels using a limited number of handheld power tools. Although the results were somewhere satisfactory, it was hard on his body and time consuming as well.  And this is what eventually led him to pursue woodturning as a way of removing wood in a more efficient manner and to lay the base for the sculptural work he currently creates.

In July 2019 he received the POP Excellence Award, and his work was featured in the AAW journal in August 2019 as well as the October issue of the same year.

In 2020 Roberto was among the invited artists for the POP exhibition, where he presented a sculpture with his own interpretation of Quetzalcoatl.

In 2022 a film crew from Lakeshore PBS visited Roberto’s studio, where he shared some of the process and techniques, he uses to create his work. Later that year, this episode won a PMA (Public Media Award)

In 2023 Roberto was a demonstrator at the AAW Symposium.

Since 2018 he has participated in art shows throughout the Midwest as well as online juried exhibitions. He is humble to know that his work is now part of private collections across the USA and Europe.  Roberto lives and works in the suburban Chicago where his studio is located. 

March – Kevin Jesequel – Hollow Form with a Finger Tip Opening 

(Kevin is also teaching a class the following day on “Hollow Forms”)

Kevin Jesequel is a woodturner living in Portland, Oregon. Taking an interest in hollow forms after the passing of his mother in 2020, he has quickly become recognized as one of the top hollow form artists today. His work has been published several times in American Woodturner and he has been a juried and invited artist to numerous exhibitions.

He was selected by the American Association of Woodturner’s POP Committee to receive the 2024 Artist Showcase at their annual symposium and enjoys demonstrating and teaching at clubs across the country.

He is an active member of two local woodturning clubs and has served as president of Cascade Woodturner’s Association in 2024.

Demonstrators scheduled for 2025:

Apr – Chris Hoehle – The Graceful Ogee – Form and Design on Shallow Bowls
May – 
Jun – 
Jul – 
Aug – Kirk DeHeer
Sep – Raleigh Lockhart – Nested Lidded Box
Oct – Cindy Drozda – Banksia Pod Ornament (IRD)
Nov – Heather Marusiak (AAW’s Professional Outreach Program (POP) 2024 POP Showcase Artist)
Dec – Holiday Party

Member Benefits

• Library – The Front Range Woodturners has an extensive collection of books, magazines, and videos available for members to check out at no cost.
• Demonstrations – Monthly meetings feature an exciting demo given by one of our club members or a professional turner. When available we also offer a full day hands-on class with these renowned turners at a nominal cost.
• Brown Bag Demo – Bring your lunch and watch a free in-person mini demo on a variety of topics in a smaller, more relaxed setting.
• Wood Raffle – Members can bring some of their excess wood to a meeting to be raffled off.  You can never have too much wood!
• Group Buy – Do you want to save money?  We have vendor discounts with Internet suppliers, local suppliers, tool and steel suppliers and wood suppliers. Through our deals with these vendors our members can easily earn back the cost of membership!
• Ladies of the Lathe – All female members of the FRW, aged 18 or older, are invited to join the Ladies of the Lathe. LOTL is intended to provide a comfortable, easy-paced, and non-threatening environment for women to learn and advance their skills in turning.
• Mentoring – Members have access to several programs to help increase their woodturning skills. Group sessions are held monthly and one-on-one mentoring on various topics can be arranged with experienced FRW volunteers.
• PHEOG – The Pete Holtus Educational Opportunity Grant program provides grant money to members through an application process. Applicants may request money for woodturning related classes, workshops, or symposium fees.
• Workshop Tours – monthly tour of members workshop. Get ideas and get inspired!