Local Woodturner
Turns Trees
into Memories

— by Anna Proctor

Local woodturner Xavier Fernandes is making a name for himself as the guy who will turn beautiful and sentimental items from local trees. “I am making memories, one bowl at a time!” he said.

Fernandes has been turning for several years, but it was with his special Orillia Legacy Bowls project that he really started to make a name for himself. “The City of Orillia had to take down many downtown trees, because of safety issues, and I thought, these trees are important to Orillians…they are full of memories. Why not make something out of them, instead of them just being turned into woodchips, or tossed in the landfill?” Fernandes explained.

Fernandes spoke to the city, and got permission to work with the arborist in charge of the project. He scurried around downtown in the early hours to make sure he got lots of the trees to work with. He hosted an opening reception for his special Downtown Orillia Legacy Bowls project in early December. Bowls flew off the shelves that day, and he already had a waiting list of folks who wanted these special pieces.

“I ended up making over 200 of these bowls, and I am not done yet!” he said. “Local business owners, past and present, wanted them, people gifted them to their children, one man ordered a set of eight for salad bowls. It was a big job to get to the end of my waiting list!”

Fernandes’ special projects list didn’t end with the Legacy Bowls. Near the end of January, a downtown heritage building was lost to fire, a building that was important to Fernandes and many other local artists, being the cornerstone of the Peter Street Arts District.

“I had my studio in 5 Peter Street South for several years,” he reflected. “I did a lot of good work in that studio in those years, and it was a time I was really immersed in the arts scene in Orillia. There are a lot of good memories for me, surrounding that building.”

Fernandes worked with the city and arborist yet again, and was able to harvest the wood from the tree in front of 5 Peter Street, which was encased in ice from the efforts of firefighters to fight the fire in sub-zero temperatures.

Thus, Fernandes’ next series, the Inspired by Fire and Ice Series, was born. “For this series, I wanted to go much more sculptural, and more artistic,” he said. “I wanted some of the pieces to not be so much bowls as sculptural works of art. I burned some of the wood, and added touches of clear resin, to symbolize the fire and ice of the tree’s story.”

Fernandes held an opening reception for this series near the beginning of April, not long after the devastating ice storm in this area. He has sold two of the nine pieces in this series. “One of the pieces was given to Fire Chief Chris Ferry,” he added. “That meant a lot. Apparently, he loves the piece!”

Fernandes has lots more local wood projects up his sleeve. He is doing some custom serving bowls for Shaw’s Catering, out of maple trees from their family sugar bush. He has some upcoming commissions from folks who lost beloved trees recently, either from the ice storm, ash borer, or just age.

He has also gathered many trunks of trees which were taken down in Tudhope Park recently. “This is for a special project which I will announce next year,” he teased. “It’s going to be another big one!”

To see Fernandes’ work in person, visit Peter Street Fine Arts and Gallery, 23 Peter St. South, Orillia, Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Or, see it at some of the shows he is exhibiting at this summer, including the Coldwater Studio Tour June 21 and 22; the Muskoka Arts and Crafts Show July 18-20; and the Images Studio Tour, Thanksgiving weekend.

Or, you can contact this prolific local woodturner directly by email at xavierfernandes@hotmail.com, or text 705-321-7987.