Roger Bennett Woodturner

Woodturner Roger Bennett specialises in making decorative bowls, vessels and wall-pieces. Since he began turning in the early 1990s he has developed an intimate understanding of the materials he works with: wood and precious metals.

His pieces are distinctive, elegant and finely turned. Using a variety of woods, usually Sycamore, he turns very thin bowls or open vessel forms which are then painstakingly inlaid with dots of silver or gold wire. The incredible attention to detail demanded by this process becomes evident when the metal is finished flush with the bowl surface, to reveal a shimmering mass of tiny constellations or geometric patterns that sparkle from the finely finished wood. Following the intense patterning process

Bennett then highlights the metal by applying a colour to the wood which provides a contrast and perfect foil of inky blackness, sky blue, or teal green. Bennett exhibits widely in Ireland and abroad, in galleries and exhibitions. A significant player on the Irish and international woodturning scene, he has been represented in many contemporary craft shows such as SO FA, Origin and Craft Boston, USA . He has pieces in a number of prestigious public and private collections, including those of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Dublin, Ireland; the Office of Public Works Collection Dublin, Ireland; the President of Ireland and the Contemporary Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.