We lost Bob Espen to a stroke in February of 2021. Bob called himself a turner, and said he just liked to see what he could do, but he was a magician when it came to wood

Bob Espen was based in Toledo, Washington

Bob moved to Toledo a few years ago after spending 23 years in Alaska. When he wasn’t working at an Anchorage power plant monitoring gas and steam turbines, he spent his free time in his shop turning wood he found in the wilderness. Prior to Alaska, he served for six years aboard the Navy vessel USS Carpenter.

Espen credits his style to a mixture of on-the-job training and being self-taught. If you had the chance to meet him, he would talk your ear off about how he acquired each piece of wood and how the unique shape of each piece inspired its design. Many of the artists working at the gallery can tell you all the stories, because he talked our ears off, too.

Brent Knott