Working primarily with indigenous madrona, wood turner Helga Winter said she doesn’t so much shape the wood as “dance” with it.

“I have an idea of what I want the wood to do and it has an idea of what it wants to do. I might want it to be oval but it wants to be round, or I might want it whole and it wants to crack,” she said. “So, we balance in the middle.”

Originally from Germany, Winter came to Port Townsend in 1987 after friends adamantly proclaimed the area's beauty and culture. Her first studio was more of a closet than a studio space at 8 feet by 14 feet, so when she learned about the Artist in Residence program at Centrum she eagerly applied, hoping for access to a more spacious accommodation in which to create.

“Needless to say I was very crowded and it was difficult to work with both the wood and practice painting in the same space,” she said.

Focused on the styles of mixed media and encaustic, Winter spent time in a three-room studio graced with beautiful lighting and a lofty ceiling. Here, Winter said, she was able to expand not only her process but her mind as well. “Centrum gave me the physical space I needed to experiment with painting, something that I was not able to accomplish in my very tiny studio.”

Since her time in residence in 2010, Winter has moved into a larger studio on Lawrence Street and now regularly works and shows as a two-dimensional painter as well as a wood turner. Her work is well recognized locally and nationally and has most recently been seen in shows at Artisans on Taylor, Northwind Arts Gallery, the Uptown Dental Clinic, and in Evans Encaustics online “Patterns in Paintings” show. 

Open studio show

Intending to show her gratitude to her living changing experience at Centrum, Winter hosts an open studio show, “From Tree to Treasure,” on Friday, Nov. 23, from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 24, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 508 Lawrence St. She plans to donate 20 percent of the show’s total sales to the Centrum Foundation. Winter hosted a similar show last year to benefit the Jefferson County Land Trust, which resulted in a significant donation for the nonprofit.

“[Winter] is terrific and her work is extremely impressive, something you really need to see to understand its complexity,” said Centrum Executive Director John MacElwee. “It is very important to us to keep good relationships with our artists, especially those who remain in the community, and we are so very thankful to her for putting on this show.”

Teaching to apprenticing

For more than two years Winter taught special education, working primarily as an advocate for physically or mentally challenged students and their families, facilitating assistance between home and school. As many of her students were blind or sight-impaired, Winter said she began to appreciate the role texture and touch played in understanding and communication.

“People love to fondle my work, to touch it and roll it in their hands. It has a variety of feelings and textures that are very good to explore,” she said.

While working on her master's degree in Tennessee, Winters had the opportunity to apprentice under Paul Pitts, a well-known furniture maker and woodworker. From Pitts, Winter learned to “carve in motion,” using a lathe and carving tools to shape various wood pieces. She then studied under wood turners Rude Osolnik and David Ellsworth.

“I truly loved teaching but I also wanted to find a career that would allow me to use my hands, to create,” she said.

In 1986, she was awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Tennessee Arts Commission. After completing her studies, Winter moved to Texas for a short period before migrating to Port Townsend.

She has been featured in books and publications including 500 Wood Bowls (Lark Books, 2004), Northwest Design Craftsmen (Bellevue Art Museum, 1990), Washington Crafts Then & Now (Tacoma Art Museum, 1998), and American Woodturner Magazine.

Taking the time

In her studio, Winter has a variety of projects in the works. Various pieces of madrona or other Pacific Northwest woods are cut and shaped into bowls, then allowed to dry. Then she uses acrylic paints, Indian ink and oils to stain and create designs on the bowls' surfaces. From beginning to end, the process of creating one piece can take anywhere from six months to more than a year depending on the thickness of the wood.

“I marked the date on the bottom of each piece once I have made it into the shape I like so I can check and see when it is dry and ready to be painted,” she said.

Hollowing out the center of each bowl using a sharp tool to extract a cone-shaped piece of wood,Winter would often turn these pieces into smaller bowls, but soon she began to explore other options. Taking two of the cone-shaped pieces and joining them to create a hollow “spheroids” she discovered a whole new inspiration. Soon the organically shaped, hollow orbs of different sizes became Winter’s signature style.

“To me they are the perfect wedding present because they are two halfs joined together,” she said. “I like to fill them with Mung beans, rice or even crab claws.”

For more information on Winter’s studio show or her works visit

helgawinter.com.