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Laurie Kleespies, a professional woodturner, has been handturning pens, desk accessories, and other functional items since 1990.
Laurie is often asked how she got into the woodworking trade, which is often thought of as a man’s work. Following a career as an army nurse, which ended early due to the onset of severe asthma, Laurie wanted to find a way to work at home, and be with her husband and two children. Being an ‘outdoorsy’ person and nature lover, she had always been interested in wood and woodworking, and decided to make a career of it. Laurie soon discovered the wood lathe, became passionate about woodturning, and studied under some of the world’s finest woodturners. Laurie was one of the original wooden pen turners and became known around town as “The Pen Lady”. Since that time, she has made many, many thousands of handturned wooden and acrylic pens, pencils, letter openers and magnifying glasses, as well as clocks and perfume applicators…
While Laurie makes a standard line of items in small ‘batches’, she does a considerable amount of custom work for individuals and companies. It is this custom commission work that sets her apart from her competition. She works closely with clients, and utilizes special materials and styles, to ensure satisfaction with the end product. Whether it is one pen, or 150 perfume applicators, equal attention is given to each. Needless to say, Laurie’s work is proudly used and displayed around the world.
Laurie handpicks woods for texture and grain, and customers and fellow woodworkers also provide her with wonderful materials to work with. Each item is meticulously handturned by eye on a wood lathe, as she uses neither templates nor duplicators. Each is truly a one-of-a-kind treasure. Laurie’s eye-catching acrylic and vintage celluloid fountain pens with platinum accents are highly prized. Her newest must-see line of pens are turned from various figured burl woods, which are painstakingly inlayed with turquoise stone. Her magnifying glasses are very useful for people who have vision problems. They have even been purchased by federal prosecutors. Kleespies’ fine works are highly sought after, and are wonderful for business gifts or any occasion.
In 2002, Maryland’s Historic Wye Oak, the official State Tree, fell during a thunderstorm. The Wye Oak was estimated to be about 450 years old and was the largest white oak in the nation and possibly the world. Recognizing the profound historic significance of this tree, the Department of Natural Resources salvaged much of the tree and made it available to Maryland artisans for the sole purpose of creating art. In 2004, Laurie was fortunate to obtain a 4’ long x 10” diameter log from this historic tree, and has made over 300 very special items from it. By contract with the DNR, Laurie was allowed to begin selling the special pieces in May 2006. While many items were custom and pre-ordered, Laurie has some exquisite pens available for sale, some inlayed with turquoise stone. Each piece of this Wye Oak art is accompanied by a State of Maryland Certificate of Authenticity.
In addition to woodturning, Laurie does a wide variety of woodworking. She has taken great pride in building much of the furniture for their home, designing each piece totally from scratch: desks, a dresser, tables, display cases, bookcases, a functional wall display for cooking utensils, and a china cabinet. Laurie was commissioned to build a series of solid oak tables for a local realty office. Each table was built to their specifications, designed to fit in specific locations, and to match existing furniture. In addition to maintaining a fulltime one-person business, Laurie enjoys creating new and exciting work. She has been quite fortunate over the years to make many world travels, which have enhanced her sense of creativity. Look for an entirely new line of her creations very soon!
While nursing and woodturning are two very different professions, Laurie has found commonalities amongst both careers. Nursing and woodturning both require a great deal of patience. She listens very carefully to what her customers want, and this has added greatly to her success. Her woodturning business has allowed her to please others through her creativity.
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