Ashley Harwood
Woodturning videos

Professional woodturner Ashley Harwood teaches classes at her studio in Charleston, South Carolina, and she brought us in for a video and photography project. Three videos came out of it. Two short promos, both set to music, invite students to her Bowl Turning Masterclass and her three-day Gamut Class. The third is a craft video, about seven and a half minutes long, on a custom extra-large wood chandelier.

The Gamut promo runs 43 seconds and follows the class from spindle turning basics to turning a bowl. The masterclass promo describes the course in on-screen text, from the push cut to thin-walled bowls, with classes limited to five students. In the chandelier video, a Charleston lighting company that bought a few hundred pieces a year from Ashley asks for something much larger. She starts with a blank of kiln-dried ash, adds a steady rest and hollows the piece so the wood can move with humidity.

Her style relies on finesse and sharp tools rather than muscle, and she sets the diameters first, then shapes the curves between them. Carlos Javier even steps out from behind the camera to help mount the blank on the lathe. Ashley’s review: “They captured the spirit of my work in a natural way.” If you teach hands-on classes, these are the kinds of promos and craft videos we produce.