At the behest of my friends in the Dallas, Texas, and Rockville, Maryland areas, I am writing this new Journal entry. They have urged me to share my achievement and joy with the rest of the world, via DeviantArt.

The Texas Sculpture Association held its 25th Anniversary Membership Show at the ArtCentre in Plano, TX. My sculpture, Lest we forget, which is in this gallery, won the First Place Prize.

The honor was special to me, because it was awarded not by a panel of judges, but by a vote of the other exhibitors, my peers. These peers are the best sculptors in Texas, turning out fantastic bronze figures, statues in stone, abstracts in stainless steel and wood, and more.

My gratitude and thanks go out to them for bestowing this cherished honor on me. I am indeed proud to have them as associates.

I love life!

Music and The Arts are large driving forces in this life of mine. I feel they are part of my soul. But People and Nature are also important components. All of them play a balancing role in meeting my needs as a human being. I use 'balance' in referring to the dynamic interplay between my physical and emotional needs.

So, I wish to share some of my thoughts as I was creating "Keyboard Wizardry", because this sculpture embodies all four of the elements above. I see them as the essentials of life. They ARE the essence of life.

The keyboard and the Music so inextricably tied to this instrument, make a powerful visual and sensuous impact. For me, all sounds are a form of music.

Sculpture is the Art form I use, because for me it can be so expressive. I also use wood because it is a warm medium and I equate it to warm feelings.

People 'enter' at several levels. It's not just the direct link between instrument and performer, but the symbolic link to the vastly larger number who attend concerts, or visit galleries, museums and libraries. It also represents those who make us laugh, the teachers who can make such a difference in our life experiences, and our parents who are our first teachers, plus many more.

Nature is symbolized by the wood in this sculpture, which at one time was a living tree. The sound of the keyboard may be a man-made one, but it recalls the sounds of the wind, the waves, or of the living creatures that share our world. When I photographed "Keyboard Wizardry", I deliberately posed it with a sylvan background.

Perhaps the best way to sum up my thoughts, is to share with you the writings of a very famous man. He was not known as a philosopher, but he sure was one.

"The essence of life seems to lie in an affirmative attitude toward the life of all creation. The life of the individual has meaning only in so far as it aids in making the life of every living thing nobler and more beautiful. Life is sacred. It is the supreme value to which all other values are subordinate.

"The hallowing of individual life brings a sort of intoxicating joy and amazement at the beauty and grandeur of the world, of which man can just form a faint notion. It is the feeling from which scientific research draws its spiritual sustenance, but also seems to find expression in the songs of the birds." - Albert Einstein.

I am completely overwhelmed with the hundreds of flattering comments, faves, etc., from so many local and international fellow artists. My early desire was to acknowledge everybody, but as a 'hunt-and-peck typist I kept getting behinder and behinder in my responses. (I've been called worse.)

So I am using this entry to say THANK YOU to everybody, and to offer my apologies for not responding to all of you individually.

And a special thanks to Myana for the DD designation for "Keyboard Wizardry" last November.

Born at a very early age. Army Vet, WWII. Electrical Engineer, Gov't computer research, Led design team for Apollo Simulator, Taught EE 26 years at GWU.

Loves nature, animals, people, art, music, travel and wonderful wife, Carol, although not necessarily in that order. Likes to make people laugh, and is a wannabe stand-up commedian.

Turned to art in the 80s, exploring pen and ink drawing, pointillism, pottery and sculpture. The biggest turn-on was segmented and ornamental turning. Some of his art combines both careers, employing hi-tech electronics with tropical hardwoods.

Stein's work with segmented turning has won him numerous first place and best of show awards. His art has been on display in museums and galleries in Germany, Israel and many venues in the U.S.A. His two studios are in Allen, TX and Rockville, MD.

He also sculpts in metal, wood and stone, makes replicas of Chippendale furniture, creates Synagogue art and Judaica. Michael Monroe, former Curator at the Smithsonians Renwick Gallery, told him if he stuck to segmented turning alone, he would be at the top of his field.

Stein has also volunteered thousands of hours in his community in his native Maryland, as well as in his new home in Texas. Much of this was for teaching art in an after-school program to children with learning disabilities, and for helping found the Senior Artists Alliance in MD. In recognition of this volunteerism, he was called to Washington D.C. to receive a prestigious National award, DISTINGUISHED SENIOR FOR 2006 in a ceremony on Capitol Hill.

In 2007, he received a Public Service Award from the D.A.R. in Allen Texas.

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3. Awards and Honors

1998 Winner of first Arts and Humanities Award in Rockville, MD.

1999 Winner of first Path of Achievement Award presented at Strathmore Hall Art Center, Bethesda, MD. This designated him "Living Treasure", and ceremony later was broadcast nationwide on CNN.

2001 Sculpture, "Lest We Forget", to be installed in Dallas Holocaust Museum when building is completed.

2002 Twice lectured on and demonstrated segmented turning at Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery.

2003 Largest segmented pot appeared in Spring issue of American Woodturner.

2004 Sculpture,"Ground Zero", destined for National Firefighters' Museum, Emmitsburg, MD. (aluminum and steel).

2006 Capitol Hill Award: "Distinguished Senior for 2006".

2006 Sculpture*, "Suspended Chord", for Plano Symphony's upcoming concert Hall. (Allen, TX)

2007 D.A.R. Public Service Award.

2007 Judge at Texas Sculpture Association's Annual Membership Show.

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* Hollow, playable wooden trumpet from this sculpture won Grand Champion Ribbon at 2006 Montgomery Fair in MD., following five prior grand champions. This was also segmented turning. (See Gallery)

Segmented Turning

Wood turning has been around fo thousands of years, but has really taken off in the last fifty. Turning has gone from an industrial process to an art form.

A turner mounts a block of wood on a machine called a lathe, which spins it at high speed. Using chisels and other cutting tools, the turner can remove unwanted material and make bowls, furniture spindles, baseball bats, or other objects with circular cross-sections.

The next few paragraphs will be more meaningful if you actually look at some of the art first.

With segmented turning, hundreds to thousands of precision-ground pieces of wood are glued together to create an artificial block, and turned as a single piece. The individual pieces consist of multi-colored tropical and domestic hardwoods to create intricate patterns which lend themselves to the replication of Native American pottery and other vessels with complex designs.

No stains are used! Only the natural colors of the wood, which by the way comes in every color except blue. The design is literally determined at the outset. Unlike inlay which is skin deep, these patterns go through to the inside, and can be seen through the neck of the vessel (in reverse). It takes a good deal of spatial perception, a keen appreciation of precision measurement, much patience and a lot of insanity.

Another innovation is Ornamental Turning. (See gallery). With special attachments, it is possible to turn ovals, to create flutes that are linear, convex, concave or spiral, or even to cut straight lines.