Redlands gallery hosts Art Majerus final woodturning sale and photos

The Redlands Art Association gallery is showing a wide selection of Art Majerus’ work from Jan. 3 through Jan. 23, including what the artist describes as the very last sets of bowls and platters, kitchen tools with turned handles, and unique pens. The exhibit pairs Majerus’ decades of award-winning woodturning with a portfolio of his film photography, offering collectors and fellow turners a practical opportunity to add finished pieces to their workshop or kitchen before the run ends.

Majerus has a long history in both making and teaching. His woodwork and photography have won several awards, including Best in Show at Tempe, Arizona, and he said, “I was invited as a guest demonstrator at the largest wood turning symposium in the US in Provo [Utah] for several years.” In the last decade Majerus estimates he “probably sold 1,000 ice cream scoops,” made with high-quality cast stainless steel, a staple example of the functional volumes he produced. Fellow wood artists told him he is the last of a dying breed who created vast quantities of utilitarian art.

The show highlights that transition. Majerus has been shooting since 1968 and is now leaning into film-based photography. “I’m a realist. It’s a dead medium,” he said of photography as an artform. “Everybody got a camera on their phone and everybody thinks they are a photographer and I understand that.” For that reason he works with older cameras and rolls of film in both color and black and white. “I’ve got an RB 67 with four by five, that’s one sheet of film at a time,” he said. “It takes 20 minutes to take one picture.” The slow, deliberate process changes how he composes images. Going into vintage photography, “It makes me think a little bit,” he said. “To do that, you look through and everything is upside down and backwards.” The slow process, “Makes you more aware of what you’re wasting film on.”

The gallery held an open house on Jan. 10 from 1 to 4 p.m., and pieces remain available for purchase while the exhibit runs. If you want to see Majerus’ woodwork or contact him directly, his workshop site is sawdustman.com and his photo portfolio is at artee8c.myportfolio.com. Email contact is artsphotography@icloud.com. The Redlands Art Association gallery is at 215 E State St, Redlands CA 92373 and maintains information at redlands-art.org and on Facebook and Instagram under Redlands Art Association.

The takeaway? If you’ve been coveting a hand-turned scoop, pen, bowl or a functional piece with classic Majerus finish, this is a practical last call before he pivots full time to vintage film work. Our two cents? Bring a plan for where the piece will live and a camera-ready appreciation for both craft and patience.