"Blue on Blue"

[John Keeton]

Another experiment in leaf patination! Thanks, again, to Jeff Myroup who was kind enough to loan me a couple of videos including one of his very well done demo for his club.

This one is curly maple with a holly finial. 7.5" to the top of the form, 11" to the tip of the finial, and a tad over 5" in diameter at the shoulder. Dyed with blue Transtint, followed by Cobalt blue Procion MX dye. The collar is integral to the piece (not a separate piece of wood) and is dyed black and then masked off and sprayed with black lacquer. I then airbrushed some blue into the area to be leafed so that some of it is visible in the voids of the leaf, although it doesn't show in these pics.

The finial is dyed black, and sprayed with black lacquer, with blue airbrushed on from the tip to about 1/3 the way up. I have done a lot of very thin finials, but wanted to try a little different approach here. This one is quite a bit larger in mass than I would normally do, but the vase form I used is heavy in the top. I felt the finial might work better with a little mass, so I replicated the form upside down in the onion, and similarly in the tip. Different, for sure, and I am still not sold on it.

The leaf work is not quite there yet. I need to work on my composition, and the patination process definitely takes some practice. I thought I had enough blue hues on the silver leaf, but the shellac killed some of them. Should have let the acid work a bit longer. I like the concept, but need to work on the process. It really does take some practice, and patience is not my long suit!

Finish is General WTF. About 7-8 coats of blue tinted WTF, leveled with 600, then about 4-5 coats clear, and leveled again with 600, then 1200, then 0000 and triple buffed.

As always, I do appreciate your comments - good or bad. I drift a lot in the forms I do, and not all of them work, so let me know your thoughts on this one. I know I will get the standard "tuck the base", but I just don't like that look. It is OK to comment to that effect - it just ain't gonna make a difference on the next one!

[Roger Chandler]

That is an absolutely killer finish John!!! This is in your top 3 for sure.................at the shoulder where the bead starts......that is a design choice for you, and it is so well done.............my tastes go for an uninterrupted flow to the base of the finial..............of course there will be others who like this better no doubt.

The fade to black is well done................the features of the form carried over into the finial is real artistry.........again as you noted, you wanted it bigger than usual......you succeeded, and it fits nicely...........my tastes..........I still prefer a little more slender onion, but the bead is fantastic on that finial!

Patination..........me, personally, I can live without that..........I am one that just prefers the natural wood...........but this is such a fine piece..........

I congratulate you on a superb piece of work and I love that color blue......my favorite color in the spectrum for sure! A+++!

[David DeCristoforo]

OK.... first off, I love the blue color and the finish. At first glance, it looks like glass. The form, while flawlessly executed, lacks the "flow" of most of what I have seen of your work. The transition into the lid is pretty abrupt and the finial seems a bit on the "fat side". As Roger already mentioned, these are design choices and do make for an interesting piece. It's just not as sweet as a "typical" Keeton form.

I am wondering about one thing. In a couple of the pics, there appear to be some small pits, apparently small inclusions that remained unfilled. For me, this kind of spoils the appearance of the otherwise pristine finish. Intentional?

[Mike Golka]

WOW! WOW! WOW! Mr. Keeton that is one fine Piece.

[Wally Dickerman]

Experimenting is great and a lot of fun. They often don't come out quite as planned but that's the way we learn.

I'm not a fan of coloring wood. Sometimes, as in Giles Gilson's or Don Derry's work it really works. I experimented with it for a while but decided I prefered the look of highly figured wood. Just my opinion, not a criticism.

I agree, the form as you've done it doesn't want to be tucked in at the bottom. I don't quite care for the abrupt changes in the curve flow in the upper form and in the finial. I do like what you're doing with the leaf.

Keep it up John, you're doing some great stuff here.

[John Keeton]

Roger, David and Mike - thanks! This one is different for me, but then most of them are. About the only thing I have duplicated in form is the typical SW pot, of which I have done several.

I am wondering about one thing. In a couple of the pics, there appear to be some small pits, apparently small inclusions that remained unfilled. For me, this kind of spoils the appearance of the otherwise pristine finish. Intentional?

Compliments of powder post beetles, David. They are very common in maple around here, as well as other woods, and I have tried dealing with the holes in a variety of ways - all of which seem to make them more conspicuous. I have decided to ignore them!

[Dennis Ford]

I love the blue and the finish, it is beautiful. You did a great job on the form, I like this shape much more than those with a highly "tucked under" bottom. Not too sure about the finial, it is very well done but its design seems heavy in the onion.

[John Keeton]

Wally, I agree with your assessment on the abrupt changes. David D. noted the same thing. The intent was to have an area on which to do the leaf. Dennis, The vase, by itself, seemed very top heavy and the flared collar was much too prominent. I thought a finial might help in that regard, but I was afraid a more delicate finial might have the opposite effect of emphasizing the mass at the top of the form.

This is one of the very few pieces I have done without a sketch! Should have stuck to the pencil and paper method.

[charlie knighton]

i like your continual design experiments, the top of the hf with the gold leaf works for me, the final seems to distract, maybe something other than final, very nice piece

[francesco dibari]

... wonderful job .. am speechless ...

[Eric Holmquist]

There is a lot to like here, the color including the fade is great as is the finish. The overall form is great.

There is so much I like about this, I hesitate to offer suggestions, but...

Two things could be better, the bead that forms the collar could be a bit smaller, and not sure what the right term is, but on the finial, the sharp transition on the lower portion of the central onion seems distracting.

[Jamie Donaldson]

Another outstanding piece John, and I have nothing to add to the previous comments except that you forgot to turn off the shop fluorescents!

[Josh Bowman]

John, that is so over the top! It looks like it glows.

[Sid Matheny]

Well yeah I love it and as stated in another post, you are going to cause me to try WTF weather I want to or not.

Sid

[Pete Jordan]

Very Nice!

I love the way you always look for new challenges!