woodezine - Volume II - Issue X - October 2004

All text and images on this page are copyrighted and are reproduced with the artist's permission.

Turner of the Month

Nikos Siragas

 
An artistic woodturner and carver, master craftsman Nikos Siragas operates a gallery and workshop in the town of Rethymno, on the beautiful Greek island of Crete. He uses local woods - in particular olive, carob, eucalyptus, plane tree, and orange. "There are other interesting woods that I use when I can get hold of them," he says. "Pink siris, pistachio, mastic, and walnut." His gallery is open Monday to Saturday from April through October, and the magnificent climate on Crete allows him to demonstrate outside the gallery - sometimes during the day, but always in the evening from 7 to 10 PM, weather permitting.
Rethymno is "on the north coast of Crete, with a fascinating mix of Turkish and Venetian architecture. The town is dominated by the 'Fortezza', a large fort on the headland. My gallery and workshop are just off the beach road, which sweeps round the large bay to the east of the town and has kilometres of sandy beach."

 

The pieces in Nikos' "Stingray" series are quietly indicative of this artist's remarkable skill.

The title came from the way each piece epitomizes the movement of a stingray in motion. At left is a turned and carved vase from a Cretan plane tree. Above is the same plane tree vase from another angle, along with a smaller olive vase next to it, showing the side detail.

A somewhat similar theme is evident in his olive wood Eel Vase (at left). Completely carved on the outside, this piece was displayed at the Woodworking Show at Alexander Palace in London during February 2003.

Following is a short gallery of six more of Nikos' ezquisite carved turnings...

 

  


Carved and textured eucalyptus vase

The first of his "orchid" designs, this is a vase in olive, with the top half carved to resemble the flower after which it is named.

Genie Goblet in olive wood.

Another design on the orchid theme.

Genie vase in olive wood.

"This is a large round olive vase, I was lucky enough to find a piece of olive from my land that had not cracked too much in the centre. It is about 40cm in diameter."


Carvings
Aside from turning, Nikos Siragas also has earned acclaim for his carvings. His favorite, and his signature piece, is "Satyrus" (shown at left, below). The theme comes from Greek mythology - the satyr, with a broken horn. It is made from an olive root and is approximately 50cm tall.
Another of his carvings, "Coming out of his Shell" (below right) shows the cracks that appear in olive roots to good effect. The sculpture is mounted on an oak base and is about 47cm tall.

 
.

 

Among several other widely circulated magazines, Nikos Siragas has graced the cover of Britain's "The Woodturner". In the issue shown at right (August/September 2001), an article entitled Wave Lips Bowl gave details on how to carve his wave lips design around the edge of a eucalyptus bowl.

Click on the image to visit the publisher's Web site.

The issue prior to the one shown featured a profile article of Nikos' career and work, and it was written by woodturner Gary Rance.

To arrange a studio visit, learn the details of upcoming exhibitions and shows, or to view woodturning tools he has designed, Visit Nikos online (http://www.angelfire.com/ak3/woodturningartcrete/index.html).

For more information, send him an e-mail

  

Back to this month's index