I know that art is in the eye of the beholder so I am asking the beholder "What makes it art" for you?
In one of Steve's thread where he died a piece one response talked about how the dye took it from a turning to art. Is that what it takes?
Can a simple bowl be art?
Is it the form?
Is it the wood?
Does it have to be embellished (dyed, carved, burned, etc.)?
We work in a different medium that most other "artists" (if we are artists) because unlike painters, potters or metal workers wood has an inherent beauty. You can take a walnut board, sand and finish it and it is beautiful whereas a blank canvas, clay and bare metal have no beauty to them. So I am a minimalist when it comes to wood. I saw a piece once where someone had bleached a piece of birds eye maple. I will pull my punches enough to say that I did not care for it.
What say you? I will be interested in reading your responses. I have not seen this discussed in the two+ years I have been following this board.
Toney