Clayton News Daily

Special Photo The world’s busiest airport is currently showcasing an exhibit in two display cases, entitled, “Three Pioneers of Contemporary American Woodturning,” and “Woodturning as an Art Form.”

Most people may step over a branch or pass by a tree and not think twice about it, but some artists see the creative potential in wood.

The world’s busiest airport is currently showcasing an exhibit in two display cases, entitled “Three Pioneers of Contemporary American Woodturning,” and “Woodturning as an Art Form,” according to DeAllous Smith, a spokesman for Atlanta’s airport.

Smith said Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has the exhibit on display in the atrium, and it will be available through July.

The cases contain a total of 40 art pieces, including bowls, vases, candleholders and decorative boxes, he said.

“The pieces in this exhibit demonstrate how artists’ creativity transformed a useful, necessary trade into an outlet for aesthetic beauty,” added David Vogt, airport art program manager.

Each piece is a work of art because of the wood’s quality, he explained, along with the imagination and technical talent of the wood-turners.

One case features pieces created by three leading contemporary wood-turners, said Smith. These artists include: Ed Moulthrop, an Atlanta architect, who found ways of developing flawless, large-scale bowls from southern tree species; Bob Stocksdale, whose work is internationally known; and Rude Osolnik, who is known for finding something alluring in what others may perceive as flaws in wood, said Smith.

The second case, he said, has art pieces from various artists from the United States, and beyond, including the states of Georgia, Tennessee, Vermont, Utah, Hawaii, California, and Oregon, and from the United Kingdom.