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Fossil du Jura by Graeme Priddle and Jérôme Blanc

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Fossil du Jura by Graeme Priddle and Jérôme Blanc
All pieces are signed originals, individually created by the artist listed.
Graeme Priddle, Asheville, North Carolina
Jérôme Blanc, Geneva, Switzerland

Fossil du Jura
Maple, acrylic paint, matte lacquer
2" x 6" x 6"

‘Fossil du Jura’

Artist's Note

"Recently after teaching in France I had the opportunity to visit and work collaboratively with Jérôme Blanc in Geneva. Jérôme picked me up and we drove through the mountainous Jura region west of Geneva. These mountains are mainly limestone formations that abound in fossils. My favorite fossils have always been ammonites because of the spiral Fibonacci design.

After I turned the bowls Jérôme carved the surface of the bowl to represent the rolling hills of the Jura and used a laser cutter to apply a texture representing field patterns seen from high altitude and the gradient lines on topographical maps. After this I carved the fossil details and then Jerome applied the color.

It was great to work with Jérôme after knowing him for many years and to explore how we could combine our different styles and techniques in a direction that was totally new for both of us. Most exciting was exploring the use of a laser cutter to create textural surfaces that would be impossible to achieve by hand."

About Graeme Priddle

Graeme Priddle has 20 years experience in the woodworking field, best known for his sculptural turnings/carvings reflecting his life and environments in Northland, New Zealand. He has won numerous awards for his work, which has been exhibited widely in New Zealand, UK, Japan, Taiwan, France, Germany, U.S.A and Canada. He is very active in the wood turning world and commits his time and talent to many creative endeavors. He has served on the committee of the New Zealand National Association of Woodturners for five years as well as being instrumental in establishing the New Zealand ‘CollaboratioNZ’ Conferences in 1998. Graeme has demonstrated and taught for numerous woodworking and woodturning groups and at many woodworking events throughout the world.

Graeme was born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand in 1960. He moved to Northland in 1986 while working for Telecom as a radio technician. He took voluntary severance in 1989 after twelve years service and started woodturning in 1990. Graeme recently moved from New Zealand to Asheville, North Carolina.


About Jérôme Blanc

Jérôme Blanc was born in Geneva in 1978 and grew up in a family keen on promoting creativity. He became acquainted with manual labour at an early age in the locksmith shop of his father, who is also passionate about boat restoration. After five years of study at the School of Arts and Crafts in Geneva in woodworking and carpentry, obtaining his degrees in 1998 and 1999, he started travelling abroad.

While in Australia he perfected his knowledge of English and was first introduced to woodturning. This enduring revelation gave rise to an ever growing interest and would entice him always closer to wood carving.

It is indeed after a training course with Tricia and José Lehete that his career as a woodturner began. Back in Geneva, he set up his own woodworking, sculpture and woodturning business, while going away regularly in order to learn from French wood turner masters (Marc Ricourt; Jean-François Escoulen; Alain Mailland).

His practice has earned him several awards (especially the 1st Prize at the European Contest of the Art of Woodturning in Bréville in 2006; the 1st Prize Pop Purchase Award from the American Association of Woodturners in 2009; the 1st Prize at Arts Pluriels - Château de Réchy in 2011, a selection for the Prix Jumelles in 2011) and some residencies, among which the International Woodturning Exchange in Philadelphia in 2009, one of the most recognized woodturning events. He’s also invited to give demonstrations at symposiums organized by national professional associations (United States, France, Australia, Great-Britain).

Jérôme Blanc regularly takes part in exhibitions in Switzerland, Europe and the United States. His works have been acquired by various public and private institutions, such as the Musée Départemental du Bugey-Valromey, The Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia and the AAW Gallery of Wood Art in St Paul, Minnesota.