Some of you may recall that the Kentucky Arts Council awarded me the commission to create the 2013 Kentucky Governor's Awards in the Arts. That was a great blessing by itself, financially rewarding, and a significant step forward for me professionally.
Since that time, the Governor awarded one of my works to a legislator. That piece was one of several previously sold to the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea – by far my best venue. They commissioned me to create a base for that turning consistent with its purpose as an award.
Most recently, on behalf of the Governor's office, Travel and Tourism contacted and informed me they had purchased another piece from the Artisan Center. This time, it was for the Governor to present to Matthew Barzun, the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, based in London, England. The Governor would present the piece during an international trip to promote Kentucky tourism starting on May 10.
Like the other, I did not design this piece to have a base. On the prior piece, the base required space for a brass plaque, and they wanted it to have the appearance of a standard base one might see on a trophy.
This one, however, was not to have a plaque, and I was permitted artistic freedom in design. It was challenging, as I had to mentally revisit the piece and envision what I might have done differently at the time. I also had less than two weeks within which to get the piece ready. Given finishing time, that meant I needed to act in haste!
This was the piece as created in July last year.
SMC BEFORE.jpg
The finial is a "stylized" K. The wood is Padauk with an African Blackwood collar and finial. Kind of a standard "bag of sand" form, and not something one typically sees sitting on an integral base.
Fortunately, I still had on hand remnants from the same Padauk, though as one might expect, the color was substantially different. Also, I was very limited in the size of the stock I had, so the design had to accommodate the wood on hand. In order to minimize the difference in color, I "baked" the Padauk portion in the sun for a couple of days while completing the other components of the base and preparing the form for the glue up.
This is the finished piece. While the color on the base had not darkened as much, it was a close match.
US EMBASSY SMC.jpg
The Governor presented the piece to the Ambassador at a reception on May 12. Governor Steve Beshear is on the right, and the Ambassador on the left.
SMC.jpg
This is indeed an unexpected blessing and a bright spot in my relatively short turning career. In addition to the talents gifted from God, I owe most of the progress in my turning endeavors to the good folks on this forum that guided me along the way! Thanks for the encouragement and tutoring and for allowing me to share!
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