Artist Statement
Philip Moulthrop remembers that he could hear his father, Ed, working at his lathe from his bedroom window as a child. But it was not until the 1970s after he had graduated from West Georgia College, married, served in Vietnam as a language instructor and was enrolled at Woodrow Wilson College of Law through the GI Bill that he took his father up on his offer to learn woodturning. Having just begun his law career, working in the wood shop alongside his father, was limited to weekends. Focusing his free time on woodturning also meant giving up his other love of photography, but as he has noted that the hands-on nature of the woodturning process was so compelling he never looked back.
Eventually, Philip was able to set up a lathe at his home, where he could rough out vessels. He would then bring these pieces over to his father's studio to be treated and dried. The treatment process involved soaking the pieces in a bath of polyethylene glycol (PEG). About two decades earlier, Ed had come across an article in Popular Mechanics that referred to this material being used by gun manufacturers to prevent gunstocks from warping and cracking. Ed adopted this technique for his own use, and it has now become a standard part of the Moulthrop woodworking process.
In time, Philip went from full-time attorney to full-time woodturner with the support of his wife Renee and Ed's ongoing encouragement. As early as the mid-1980s his work was being acquired by some of the most important collectors of contemporary woodturning, including Bud Jacobson, and Jane and Arthur Mason who have shared generous portions of their collections with museums at Arizona State University and the Mint Museum among many others.
Driven by his desire to best accentuate the natural wood grain and color, Philip has explored a myriad of forms over the years, which include tall vases, platters, spheres, and ellipsoids. Perhaps, the most innovative and remarkable examples of his work in their technical virtuosity and striking visual contrasts are his mosaic pieces which he first began to explore in 1992 and his bundled pieces that followed shortly thereafter.
Philip, like his father, has been celebrated for revolutionizing contemporary woodturning. He has also gained the enduring admiration of his fellow artists, collectors, gallerists, museum professionals and even world leaders as he continues to create breathtaking objects that defy and challenge our expectations of his materials and his process.
