Paul Gray Diamond

When Paul first purchased his present lathe in 1991, when he was making custom made furniture, little did he know that by 1994 he would be turning his vases and bowls full-time. As he calls it “It was a hobby that got out of hand.” Since then, he has sold his work through various galleries throughout Canada, the USA, and a gallery in Hong Kong. He has also participated in many art shows and studio tours as well as group shows mainly through the Ontario Craft Council. People from all walks of life have purchased his work. From former President of the United States Bill Clinton (2007), the Bronfman family, given as a gift from a friend of the Lord High Commissioner of London to the Crown all the way to teenagers just starting to appreciate the arts. 

 Paul’s wildlife photography is the result of years of getting animals to trust him, which allows him to capture rare moments of animals interacting between themselves and with him. 

 Paul lives in a beautiful forest just outside Coboconk Ontario in the northwest of the Kawartha Lakes. This forest has provided him with much of the wood that he uses for his woodturnings. From spalted woods (Spalt is a fungus that creates beautiful patterns in the wood when the wood is dead.) to crotchwood that has flame patterns throughout and basically any wood that has an interesting grain in it. 

 In this forest, wildlife abounds. From a wide array of small furry and feathered creatures to much larger beings such as foxes, the odd timber wolf, the odd coyote, lots of deer, black bears (Which is always interesting.) He’s had two female moose looking in his windows and one winter a cougar which caught a whitetail doe. As he says, “There’s never a dull moment around here.” Paul says living in this forest is such an inspiration for both his woodturning and his photography and that he is so lucky to live where he does. In a place that provides him with so much.