Matt Monaco operates a full-time woodturning studio in the southwest region of Missouri, making dedicated collections, signature series vessels, lidded containers, and drafted spindle-turned items for the industries of craft, interior design, and high-end furniture. We’ve known Matt since his early days when he was mentored by Richard Raffan and assisted him in his workshops taught here at Craft Supplies USA. Matt is now a Fine Woodworking Magazine contributor, and has become an educational outreach partner to major U.S. craft organizations.

As a full-time professional turner with now 20 years' experience, Matt’s mission is to make the highest quality products, that reflect both the mastery of the tools, and the functionality and timeless beauty of wooden decor in others' lives. This vision is exemplified through Matt being one of very few turners having apprenticed & trained as a maker in a production environment and knows the integrity of the trade through the high-end furniture production landscape of Shackleton Thomas Furniture & Pottery as their in house professional hand-turner, and continues to make & ship their product and other turned items to both collectors worldwide, and for quarterly re-stocks to their 100 year old workshop/mill & showroom in Vermont's Upper Valley.

At the center of Matt’s signature work is his understanding and mastery of tool control in creating fine detail as an expression of his eye for refined form and design, as well as his knowledge on both side, and end grain topics all meant to inspire the eye and hand in producing items that are as tactile, as they are sublime.

In this Signature Workshop, Matt will teach students proper sharpening and fine tool control techniques all students need to be successful in the long term. In addition to reinforcing the fundamentals throughout the week, Matt will also focus on design, how to make a living as a woodturner, and how to create a body of work that carries a genuine personal signature; and for every student to understand essential elements of form that are key in producing truly great work.

Matt will teach students his methods of mastering both side and end grain projects, the properties of green wood, finishing techniques, and how to create pieces that mirror the traditions of form & design found in array of other mediums and cultures that ultimately beg to be held, used, or displayed for decades.

To learn more about Matt Monaco, visit www.monacobowls.com

Projects: (may vary due to time constraints)

• Fine Detail Utility Dish
• Open Form Ceramic Style Bowl
• Fine Detail End Grain Box w/Finial
• Natural Rim End Grain Vessel
• Spinning top w/Captive Loose Ring on Stem
• Thin Wall Bowl w/ Classic Open Rim
• Tear Drop Finial Jar - A Fine Woodworking Side Grain Project
• Semi-Enclosed Vessel
• Fine Detail Platter

Topics to be covered:

• Developing a natural eye & aesthetic for form
• Developing Advanced Tool Control
• Understanding & Mastering the Skew Chisel
• Applying, and using micro bevels correctly w/gouges
• Burnishing surfaces that require little to no sanding
• Freehand sharpening & application
• Tool Selection based on grain orientation.
• Designing in a series
• The Body Mechanics Of Woodturning:
• Learning to recognize how the body responds to the physical processes of woodturning
• Turning Fine Detail:
• Learning to refine and master the use of bowl, spindle gouges, & skew chisel related to all side grain and end grain projects.
• Turning Wood Pottery:
• You will learn my techniques of creating pottery like vessels with a focus on spindle gouges to create fine detail on exteriors and learn proper tool angles to accommodate for interior hollowing w/bowl gouges while understanding eye-pleasing proportions.
• Turn A Signature Series Box:
• Learn my methods of designing and creating beautifully proportioned end grain boxes in a series. You will learn how to utilize fine detail, proportion, and your design eye to create a series of your own creation.

Registration information:
Our workshop is located in beautiful Provo, Utah, just 40 minutes south of Salt Lake City.
Upon registering for a class, we will send you a packet containing helpful information when planning your trip, including hotels near us and other fun things to do during your visit to Utah.

In the event of cancellation:
We reserve the right to cancel workshops up to 4 weeks prior to the class date. In the event of a workshop cancellation, full tuition will be refunded. Please do not make airline reservations more than 4 weeks prior to the first day of class as we do not reimburse for any travel expenses incurred.

Student Cancellation:
Cancellations less than 6 weeks prior to the start of class will be subject to a 50% cancellation fee.