Turning a bowl is the most popular project in the turning seminars that I run. My five-day workshops start with spindle turning; and after two days of spindle exercises, there is a buoyant mood when students chuck up bowl blanks and take bowl gouges in hand. It is much like watching traditional Olympic ice-skating. After the compulsory figures program, the free skating is a joy. People get excited and really start having fun. There is something magical about turning a bowl, because it is both creative and useful. In this age of mass-produced, plastic look-alike housewares, the knowledge that you have produced something real, artistic, and unique is a splendid touchstone.