From the time he was in middle school, 70 year-old Dave Waldrep knew he enjoyed woodworking. But through two careers (and two retirements), he’d never managed to carve out time to spend on what’s since become his go-to pastime: learning the secrets of the lathe.

Now, six years into his post-retirement hobby, Waldrep’s discovered he doesn’t just enjoy taking pieces of burled box elder and turning them (literally) into beautiful hand-crafted bowls both decorative and useful. He’s also discovered he’s actually good at it — really, really good.

“I’m a member of the New Mexico Woodturners,” says the longtime Edgewood, NM resident, on the road and heading east through Oklahoma for a date with his second-ever appearance at the Bloomin’ Festival this weekend. “Last fall, one of the members from the club said, ‘You know, Dave, why don’t you enter a piece or two in the state fair this year?’ Of course I’d never done anything like that, but I decided — ‘Okay, let’s just see what happens.’

“Well, the fair ran its course. I never went to it while it was going on, though, so when it was over, I went to collect my pieces and asked one of the guys from woodturners’ club: Do we just pick them up? How does it work? and he looks at me and says, ‘You might need a hand,’ and I said, ‘Why?’ — and he said, ‘Because of all those ribbons you won!’”

Waldrep says he was surprised to learn his entires had earned him a first place, best of show award as well as a pair of second place ribbons. But with or without awards, his carefully crafted, handmade pieces speak for themselves. Each is a product of patience, accumulated learning, and, over the years, more than a few false starts.

“When I first started, I had a Shopsmith, which is kind of a multi-tool piece of equipment. I started out using the lathe on that, pretty much just teaching myself how to turn and learning how to use different tools. Of course I made a lot of mistakes, and used the wrong tools for the wrong things,” he jokes.

“It was during those early turning times that my wife finally said, ‘Alright, enough sawdust in the garage! You’re gonna build a shop!’ So we built a shop, I got new lathe, and actually got more into turning. I joined the New Mexico Woodturners, which is a good organization, and got to know people and picked up a lot of useful tips and information along the way. It’s taken off from there. It’s a hobby for me, but it’s one that I’ve really enjoyed.”

A trip from Albuquerque’s outskirts to Cullman might seem like a long distance to travel for an arts and crafts festival. But Waldrep, who’s got family in the Cullman area and is no stranger to Alabama, says his first vendor showing at last year’s Bloomin’ Festival was worth the trip.

“My cousin actually invited me over for the festival last year, and I said, ‘Why not?’ I’d never done a show that big, and man I’m telling you: It’s quite an event,” he says. “It was so much fun. I had a wonderful time; I really did.”

Waldrep’s designs aren’t created on paper; they’re born of the magical interaction that transpires between the artist and the unique wood pieces that spin on the lathe, each gradually revealing its beautiful secrets and compelling Waldrep’s artistic instincts in the direction the wood wants to go.

“I don’t draw anything out of paper,” he says. “I put the wood on there and I let the wood guide me more than I guide it. I let the grain kind of help me out, and I look at the patterns. I go along with it until I end up with the final product. Sometimes it works out good; other times, it just doesn’t work out really well. I’ve scrapped a number of pieces, and I’ve learned that certain types of wood are not on my list of favorite pieces to turn.”

Time combined with attentive skill, though, has a way of rewarding exactly that kind of patience, and Waldrep says it’s gratifying when someone appreciates his work.

“One of the folks who stopped by my booth last year and bought a piece — she came in and was looking around, and said, ‘Your work is very unique. It’s totally different…,’” he recalls.

“I remember that and I certainly appreciated it. That’s what has kept me turning the types of wood that I do and coming up with the pieces that I do. I want them to be different, and I want them to to appeal to people simply because they are different. Hopefully [at the Bloomin’ Festival] this year, folks will stop by and have a look and maybe talk for a while.”

You can find Waldrep’s work at this year’s Bloomin’ Festival by watching out for the vendor sign that says “Simple Turnings,” Waldrep’s studio moniker. He’ll be there, along with the pieces that earned him those early awards (“They’re for sale!” he adds), showcasing the beauty that emerges when a craftsman with a lifelong love of woodworking finally finds time in retirement to hone his artist’s eye.