Ghenadi Vasiliev, Yeoman of the Turners’ Company
Ghenadi was born in a small town of Dnestrovsc, Moldova, what then was known as Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, a western part of the USSR. In 1994 he graduated from an engineering school and was trained as a technician for power production and distribution industry which was the beginning of his seven year career in a thermal control automation shop in the Moldavian Power Station located outside of his home town.
In 2002 answering the call to become a minister of the Gospel he came to the UK as a student to study in London Theological Seminary in Finchley, North London. In 2003 Ghenadi began his work for London Theological Seminary (currently known as London Seminary) as a general manager and he is still continuing in this position.
In autumn 2015 he first tried his hand in woodturning on his friend’s lathe and fell in love with it. After buying his own lathe from Germany (Killinger 1450) he began to explore hollow forms which was something that struck a chord with him. Ghenadi’s hollow turning inspiration comes from David Ellsworth (USA), Mark Sanger (UK) and Steve Sinner (USA).
In 2016 Ghenadi joined a local woodturning club (North London Woodturners) and after hearing an announcement about the forthcoming Wizardry In Wood Competitions he applied in several categories. His piece commemorating 350th Anniversary of the Great Fire of London was noticed by jury members who advised him to apply for the Worshipful Company of Turners’ Bursary which he won and in November 2017 Ghenadi took a training course with Mark Sanger and Rod Page in the UK and with Steve Sinner and Joe Meirhaeghe in Iowa, USA. The time spent with the four masters was formative for Ghenadi’s technical and artistic skills and took him further in woodturning. Ghenadi’s main area of interest remains creating hollow forms and especially classical and modern style wooden vases. Ghenadi is also a burgeoning tool maker who is starting to manufacture Steve Sinner’s hollowing tools and tool rests under a licence agreement for the UK market.
Ghenadi is happy and greatly honoured to be chosen to represent and promote values of the Worshipful Company of Turners and the art of the Woodturning to the young and old in the UK.
Back to Yeoman Programme