A N E M P L O Y E E A R T E x H I B I T I O N - UAW-Chrysler.com

artistsat work
B
A
A. Emulation
Wood Turning
6¼” High x 5” Dia.
B. Hollow Form
Wood Turning
6” High x 6½” Dia.
C. Snake Eyes
Wood Turning
4” High x 6” Dia.
C
An Artisan of Wood FINDS ‘GREAT JOY’ AS HE UPHOLDS
TRADITION OF Craftsmanship
As a wood turner, Loel Gnadt is helping to preserve a
centuries-old art form and the craftsmanship it requires.
He uses simple tools such as chisels and gouges
to shape his pieces while they spin on a wood lathe
and create objects such as bowls, platters, Christmas
ornaments, vases and wine bottle stoppers.
Loel Gnadt
2nd-place
winner
It’s a painstaking process that
yields “great joy and satisfaction
when the more complicated pieces come out just as I envisioned
them,” says Mr. Gnadt, an electrician and UAW Local 869
member at Warren Stamping. “I feel like I hit a home run.”
So it is with his winning entry that consists of Emulation, a vase;
Snake Eyes, a candy dish, and Hollow Form, a rounded vessel that made the biggest
impression on Artists at Work judges.
Mr. Gnadt, a Chrysler employee since July 1999, also has shown his work in other art
exhibits and galleries. “I always had a feeling of creativity in my bones and I thought it was
going to be expressed through music,” he says, “but that didn’t work itself out.”
Tuesday Morning – Belvidere, Illinois
Photography
4½” x 8’
RICHARD WEBER
3rd-place
winner
Montage of Photos Captures a Moment in Time Worth Preserving
Richard Weber was on a mission the morning he used his Nikon D90 to record a slice of small-town America before it was
too late.
The result was a panoramic view of downtown Belvidere, Ill., that reveals his eye for great shots and camera savvy as well
as his sense of history as a photographer.
“I felt it was important to capture this street-level view of our small-town America because, once a large period of time
passes, you can’t go back to record it,” says Mr. Weber, a UAW Local 1268 member at Belvidere Assembly.
He used Adobe Photoshop to add ground, sky and trees and merged 45 photographs together to form one 8-foot-long
print that became his winning entry, Tuesday Morning – Belvidere, Illinois.
Mr. Weber, an assembler since November 2009, was exposed to photography at the age of 7 when he sat on his mother’s
lap in the dark room of the family’s suburban Chicago home.
He took photography classes in high school and again in college as part of his Bachelor’s of Art Degree from Northern
Illinois University.
2
Mr. Weber likens photography to painting – but only up to a certain point. “Taking photos differs from painting in that it
can be so instantaneously rewarding, especially with the advent of the digital format, which allows you to edit and delete
your shots right on the spot.”