Scalloped Redwood

Redwood burl, with a maple accent ring, this one is 5.25"w x about 4.75 t. The walls are just over 1/8", with the very rim being about 3/16". Finish is several coats of shellac, buffed back, and 7-8 coats of General WTF, sanded level and triple buffed. I really like the WTF finish! So consistent, so quick, so easy to use, and such a nice feel to it.

There were several bark inclusions and small voids in this one. The larger ones were filled with coffee grounds and Titebond, and most of the smaller ones remain open. For that reason, the finish on this one was not buffed to a really high gloss - it just seemed to look better with a softer finish.

I wanted to get this one finished up, as it will be part of several turnings I will deliver to the KY Artisan Center in Berea on Friday.

As is always the case, I welcome your comments, and hope some of you find it pleasing. Sorry, Jamie, for the headlight reflections! I am not sure of the source as I was using ambient light along with the shop lights.:o


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very nice John, the burl is well done, redwood can be pretty soft wood and yours looks well done, great form, and the accent ring does not overpower the burl, are you putting the piece in the gallery at KY Artisan Center or is there a contest there??????

thanks for sharing

John,

I really like the form and the accent ring. It have a very ancient Egyptian feel to the piece. It for sure is a unique piece and very much a winner.

Alan

I agree with Alan about the Egyptian look. Pretty cool piece and that WTF looks like days worth of WOP! My only small critique would be a preference for the feature ring to be a bit narrower. Nice work John.

Well, I'm glad you decided not to go with the gloss finish:rolleyes:

This is impeccable in many ways. In form and finish of course. The woods work well together and the redwood burl... well, how could redwood burl not look great?!

The decoration is the only thing that would keep me from giving this a ten. It works well enough but it just does not have the "panache" I usually associate with your pieces. I am hesitant to even mention this because I have done absolutely no burning or decorating of this type outside of branding my logo into the bottoms of my pieces which has served to give me a hint as to how "not easy" this stuff can be. We look at work by Molly Winton or Cynthia Gibson and admire it without really understanding what it takes to pull it off. In this case, it does add to the piece and the design is simple but effective. But I think, if you continue to explore burned decoration, it will not be long before you look back at this and wonder how you ever got to where you are from where you began.

One of your best yet. Ya got to love that wood.

Steve

John of all your great pieces i've seen since i joined here, i think this is one of the best. (IMHO)Love it.

Really nicely done John. I like the form and the finish is excellent. I agree that the accent ring could be narrower.

I like everything about it. Form, finish, etc. Great pc.

Beautiful! While the accent ring might look better if it was narrower, I still think this piece looks great. I love the form and the finish!

Beautiful work John! As I mentioned before - this piece has an Arabic feel to it - to me! I love the wood, form and finish and find that the simple design in the detail ring works well. Best of luck with all your sales through the artisan center! Looking forward to seeing what you create next!

I like this piece, and do like this direction. I'm sure it will continue to evolve and mature as other of your work, in short order at that!

That'll work. For a nit...may be the pic lighting or a "who cares" thing...big flat spot in the transition? This is a great pottery piece and they had flat spots and so can we! I'd put in my collection!

Ya' done good John....especially the form. I've seen several of your pieces with the accent ring and I really like them, but for me this one could be a bit narrower.
Bottom line is that this one is going to sell immediately!!!!

Well, Just beautiful once again, John.

I love the piece. To me it looks spot on and love the scalloped work. I have to get into some of that type work too. Nice finish on the piece too. Thanks for showing.

Very nice work John! The wood, form, and finish are up to your usual standards. I like the maple feature ring and find the pyro particularly interesting since I am beginning to try a little. I haven't gotten beyond dots and a few straight lines with a skew though. Were the scallops/curves made with a preformed tip or did you bend a wire tip yourself?
I like your simple design. Getting an even burn and spacing that looks good is anything but easy!

Great shape and finish. sure glad you weren't trying for gloss--you hit glass!

Very nice John! Beautiful wood, form and finish and I like the accent ring. I'm sure this one will be a hit!

Thanks! It is always interesting to see comments on various features of a piece. When I started this piece, I did not have a sketch - quite rare for me. But, when it came time to make a decision on the accent ring, I decided a sketch was a necessity - both as to placement and size of the ring. I have made them narrow, as well as in multiple layers, and decided on this one that I wanted the wider look. Seems as one deviates from the "expected norm", the masses begin to divide in their opinions as to that feature. I kind of like the wider ring better, and it provided the desired contrast, as well as a larger palette for the pyro. Ms. Keeton really likes this one, and that usually is a good sign as to marketability.;)

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Originally Posted by charlie knighton

...are you putting the piece in the gallery at KY Artisan Center or is there a contest there??????

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Charlie, the Center had a bowl exhibit for a few months, and I sold five pieces during that exhibit. For a guy that doesn't do bowls, I was pleased! This piece will be part of a variety of work I will place there as a stocking vendor.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jim Burr

That'll work. For a nit...may be the pic lighting or a "who cares" thing...big flat spot in the transition?

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Jim, there are probably multiple issues that exist with this piece, but no flats. I am pretty obsessive on getting clean curves.

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Originally Posted by Baxter Smith

Were the scallops/curves made with a preformed tip or did you bend a wire tip yourself?
I like your simple design. Getting an even burn and spacing that looks good is anything but easy!

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Baxter, the lines are burned with a guitar string after scoring the wood with my D-Way diamond tool, and the scallops were done with a fishscale tip. I bought my burner used from a fellow that had done carved fish. It came with every known size of fishscale tip!

I used the indexing on the lathe to make several division lines, and picked a tip that would give me continuous connectivity all around the piece. My intent is to get some wire and play with making my own tips, but there seem to be a lot of combinations one can put together by combining basic tips. In fact, your recent piece was what got me thinking about that.

As David D. said, this is very simplistic looking and leaves a lot of room for improvement. But it did give me the clean look I was after, with a lot of open area for contrast. I was a little afraid to get too "busy" with the pyro given the burly figure of the wood. For me, that would have created two competing elements.

Oh wow John, looks like yuo took a pretty chunk of wood and made a beautiful piece of art. Very well done. Love the look you got with the finish.

Congratulations on your first segmented piece, John. Even though it has only 3 segments, it is a good start!
Seriously, your imagination continues to amaze me. Really a great piece.

John,
Beautiful work. All aspects are top notch. You seem to never fall into a pattern when you turn, and your work always shows great creativity. I too, love the General WTF finish you have used on some pieces lately. Very nice work.

Like he form, like the finish, may have to go back and revisit that can of WTF, that I did not like.

Beautiful shape and contrast in woods. The scallop and dot strike me as a bit too prominent, especially the scallop. No decoration or perhaps just lines might appeal more to me.

I like it just fine John, well, except for the squinty insect eyes highlights, but they're much improved over headlights! You have really illustrated the capabilities of the WTF, so I may have to use it more if I can just find some time to do some turning.

I really can't add to what's already been said except to say that legal education has sure paid off! :D:D

Your work remains astounding John, I've no critisms a'tall.

John, every piece you do is a work or art, I can't think of a single piece you have done that I haven't been shocked at the quality, proportions, and finish.

John,

This is another in your series of exquisite pieces. Workmanship, finish and embellishment are all superbly done.

I appreciate all the additional comments! Larry P., you do need to revisit the WTF finish - I really enjoy working with it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tom Winship

Congratulations on your first segmented piece, John. Even though it has only 3 segments, it is a good start!
Seriously, your imagination continues to amaze me. Really a great piece.

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Thanks, Tom, but if this qualifies as segmented, then I have several in my portfolio! Unfortunately, I doubt Wyko, and the other segmenters would permit this to be my entry fee into the world of segmentation!:D

Nicely done, John! I thought I had already commented on this one, but perhaps my memory is not… Well, I can't remember what I was going to type:confused:!

I really enjoy this piece! Lovely curves and a knockout finish that really lets that burl do some talkin'. Pretty tough to find fault with this piece, but I keep looking at the dissimilar sized bands on either side of the pyro area… I'm wondering if that bottom ring might look better if it were smaller like the band above? Congrats on the sales and becoming established as a stocking vendor… If you'd stop buying new tools, you might be able to trim back on the hours at the office!:D

This one's not sitting on the shelf for long! I love the feature ring, size and pyro work, a perfect balance, IMO. The burl is fantastic with a great finish & form.
"Top Shelf"

John, Isn't experimenting with new techniques, tools and materials fun! I love the piece and applaud your willingness to move into new "territories". As long as you continue to have fun your pieces will always be interesting!

Fantastic piece John, I love the redwood burl, and it is such a wonderful wood to turn too. I think the accent ring and your pyrography work exceptionally well with this piece. Another great finish with the WTF, my can is waiting for me to try, now if school will just let me :D

ah, very appealing vessel. The maple looks great with the burl, not only color-wise, but also it's clean vs. the swirly burl. The design, gives me a middle eastern feeling. I think this will stand out in any gallery, and get a lot of interest. Good luck at the artisan center

I guess this thread surfaced again - thanks for taking a look! Michelle, I was surprised at the choices made by the director at the Artisan Center. When I was there last year, they were more interested in the SW influenced pieces. This time, I took over a fairly wide assortment and they chose mostly the more delicate pieces!! The comments were that they represented a new look for them, and the pieces would be displayed under glass. One just never knows!

I have another exhibit coming up in May, and this one would work well in that setting. I also need to trade out some of my pieces in the various galleries, so perhaps this one will work for that, as well.