How long to reach perfection in a form?

[John Keeton]

I've been married for 32 years now. I wouldn't DARE ask SWMBO if I've reached perfection yet.

Tony, you are a work in progress. If Ms. De Masi is not happy with what she sees, it isn't your fault!! She just needs to work harder at perfecting you!

[Roger Chandler]

Tony, you are a work in progress. If Ms. De Masi is not happy with what she sees, it isn't your fault!! She just needs to work harder at perfecting you!

John............ !!!

[Timothy Juvenal]

I turned a perfect one once, but none of my customers ever picked it.

Other hand, some I was really disappointed in sold quickly.

Timothy

[Brian Brown]

How many forms did you do on average, of a certain style, before you felt like you hit perfection?

What's perfection???? I am still working to achieve mediocrity. Perfection will have to wait awhile.

[Steve Mawson]

I think I have to agree with just about everyone. Thanks for bringing up an interesting question however one that is very difficult to answer.

[Steve Vaughan]

Worrying about perfection would drive me nuts, although there are some things that I probably drive others nuts about because of it! I've just done a few simple bowls for the most part and I try to take each one individually and do a good job with it. Having said that, I'll look at the finished product and may think of something that I'd want to try differently with a similar size or piece of wood. I'm thinking this is a great question too, but I'm not sure that any piece is gonna be perfect...there's always gonna be something you see differently about the piece...and it just might be more an issue of the turning being "perfect" but I just ain't telling anyone about the imperfections!

[Richard Madden]

Why heck...I've turned several perfect pieces...of firewood that is.

[Tony De Masi]

John, I'll be sure to tell her that. Then look for a new place to live.

[GLENN THOMAS]

I hope i never turn a perfect form, not that its likely to ever happen. I figure if I ever did turn a perfect form then what would I do next ? My goal is to turn something better than the last thing I turned, if I manage to do that I'm happy.

[Douglas Quetin]

What a great question to raise. It is like Prashun and John said. It is the doing and improving. Most interesting to me in this thread is that there are a lot of other people that feel as I. Turning is so solitary, personal, and primal that it is easy to think "it is just you". Nice to read all of these comments and think, "Yeah, that's what I feel, too."

[Lee Koepke]

and I'd like to add, that generally the creators opinion is markedly different than that of the recipient. The 'outsider' reaction I get to things I make is better than that I reap upon myself. Since I try to sell some of my work, I have to keep my self-critiques to myself alot of times, thats hard for me!

[Sean Hughto]

Well said. The good thing is that when you give folks the ones you're no longer satisfied with, they are as impressed by it and value it as you did back at 3 or 10.

[Bill Hensley]

I've never really thought about perfection in turning, too subjective. In turning my goal is the next "that's really nice!"