Donna Banfield

<p>Donna's love of all things wood started with refinishing old furniture that she inherited from her grandfather. Much of the furniture was in bad shape; a lawyer by day, she found herself rushing home from the office just to spend a few hours each night to work with the wood. As eager as she was to get home to the furniture, once there, her pace slowed as she worked patiently, savoring each step, and enjoying everything, including the sanding. During this time, annual visits to the Sunapee Craft Fair introduced her to woodturners, whose curls of wood flew through the air as they demonstrated their skills in making a bowl, vase or hollow form. In 2001 Donna acquired her first wood lathe and some turning tools for Christmas. She was immediately and totally hooked. At a crossroads, she closed her private law practice at the end of 2003 to turn full-time. She is now happily immersed in everything that can be turned out, and, lately, carved from wood. Donna's creations are a reflection of her life, a life less ordinary. She takes what would have been the end of a majestic life in its natural state, and gives it a new life. She reforms and re-forms it into something less ordinary, something extraordinary.</p>