Does this HF work for you?

[Steve Schlumpf]

I really liked the simple form on this maple but the wood was so plain I wanted to try something to enhance it. I have a woodburning set but was leery of making a mistake and ruining the piece. The Zia’s were all done freehand using different colors of India ink.

Maple HF, 7” diameter x 4” high with several coats of rattle can lacquer.

118153 118154 118155 118156

This is the first time I have tried any type of an enhancement to one of my HFs and am real curious what you folks think about it. If it works – let me know. If it doesn’t work for you – I would like to know why so that I can try something different the next time.

As always, your comments, critiques and opinions are welcome!

Thanks for looking!

[Harvey M. Taylor]

Steve, the1 photo is a little blurry, could you send it to me for an honest appraisal Just joking, I like it. Maxq

[David Walser]

Steve,

I like the embellishment because it's reminiscent with the type of decorations you might find on Southwestern native American pottery. So, the embellishment is very compatible with the form. Secondly, colors help to bring interest to the piece without overwhelming it -- sort of like the way simple jewelry can frame and bring a beautiful women's face into focus. Lastly, I think the decorations will age very well. As the wood develops more color and depth over time, so, too, will the decorations develop a consistent depth and patina. Very well done.

[Harvey Crouch]

Very nice Steve. The form is excellent and the designs really enhance it with a Southwest look. Do I understand correctly that you only used ink on the surface?

[Wayne Bower]

Steve, I like it. The form is enhanced by the little figures. I too think of southwest pottery when I look at it. Well done.

[Adam Grills]

I see what you are trying to achieve in this but I don't feel that you have done it. For me the india ink needs to be done very clean to look right. I think it would have been a great HF all on its own. Guess part of it is the "art" is not inline with the "art" on the other side of the piece. They seem to be crooked.
Adam

[Mike Golka]

No this piece does not work for me. It seems to move at the same pace as some of the people that do work for me though!!!:eek: All kidding aside Steve, that is one great looking HF. I think the embellishment adds just the right amount of character to the piece.:D Very well done, I think you’re onto something.:rolleyes:

[Bernie Weishapl]

I really like it Steve. The Zia's really set it off. Well done.

[Burt Alcantara]

I like it but now that you have them on, burn them in. I think the burning will give a better color and texture.

[Terry Rothwell]

Well done Steve, I like it! I would be interested in learning how you guys go about hollowing them out. Could somebody recommend a video or a book that shows you how?

[Richard Madison]

Looks good to me, Steve. Definitely adds personality to an otherwise bland piece. Guess you decided against burning after seeing my first two attempts. Maybe practice on some "scrap" like I did.

[Jeff Nicol]

Steve, I think it is very, very nice! The shape is perfect! The "Art" that you put on is simple and appealing to the eye, and to make it too perfect would not be true to the design as the ancients of old would have done with feathers and twigs. A free hand symbol has meaning and heart put into it and tells us that it was done by a person and not a machine. It is again a true work of art!

Jeff

[Tom Lewis]

Steve, the shape of your piece is outstanding. I live in the Southwest, and see a lot of Indian pottery. You have really captured that form in your woodturning.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very nice Steve. The form is excellent and the designs really enhance it with a Southwest look. Do I understand correctly that you only used ink on the surface?
Harvey - I picked up a pack of 5 archival pens (India ink) just so I could attempt this piece. The tips are .05 - so it was a challenge to widen the lines and make everything seem 'painted' on.


I see what you are trying to achieve in this but I don't feel that you have done it. For me the india ink needs to be done very clean to look right. I think it would have been a great HF all on its own. Guess part of it is the "art" is not inline with the "art" on the other side of the piece. They seem to be crooked.
Adam
Adam - it would have been nice to have an ink pen with a .1 tip - or something to emulate a fine paint brush but you work with what you have. The 'crooked' alignment is actually distortion caused by the camera angle. While the artwork was freehand - I laid out the position of the circles while still on the lathe and using the tool rest and index pin.


Steve, I think it is very, very nice! The shape is perfect! The "Art" that you put on is simple and appealing to the eye, and to make it too perfect would not be true to the design as the ancients of old would have done with feathers and twigs. A free hand symbol has meaning and heart put into it and tells us that it was done by a person and not a machine. It is again a true work of art! Jeff
Jeff, appreciate that you recognize the effect I was going after - that of drawing freehand as it would have been done by the true masters.

[Bill Bolen]

Steve I too like it and it works well. With your photo shop skills try a bit of a smaller size Zia, 8 of them in a circular pattern around the same circumference. Smaller is sometimes better. Well done ///Bill..

[BILL DONAHUE]

Looks terrific! The symbols accentuate the southwest Indian look. Are they called "zia?" Tried to get a definition of "zia" and couldn't find one that made a connection to these symbols. What kind of woodburner do you have? I'm on the verge of getting one- probably a razertip, and have the intention of using it on most of my turnings.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Thanks Bill - I did think of doing that initially but figured since the magic number associated with the Zia is four - I would stick with that - at least for the first time out!

[Phil Thien]

I'd buy it.

[Don Carter]

Steve:
It works great for me! Freehand? That is wonderful...one of these days.

[Mark Norman]

Verry well done Steve! I like it, the art is not overwhelming the piece.

[phil harold]

In Picture #4 it is hard to determine if they are actualy at 90 degrees to each other.

Please send it to me, so I can determine the accuracy of thier placement ;o)

[Toney Robertson]

Steve,

I really like the HF but if you remember I have a difficult time with embellishments but in this case I guess it works in the context of this being a southwestern inspired piece.

Toney

[Jerry Rhoads]

Works for me Steve.
Very good looking form. Just enough embellishment to make the piece a beauty.

Jerry

[charlie knighton]

very nice, 1st time, its a new path on the curve, explore, enjoy

a plain piece can be used to really show off your turning & finishing skills, add detail to neck, Terry Mitchell uses some of the plainest wood to show off how skilled he is

[Wally Dickerman]

Steve, I like what you've done here. The form is good. A fairly bland piece of wood needed some embellishment. Simple and not overdone. I'm not sure that I like 4 different colors, but that's nitpicking.

Embellishing pieces with various kinds of enhancements has added a lot of enjoyment to my work. I can see that you're headed in that direction. Pyrography, coloring, piercing, beading, texturing....there's almost no end to what you can do. Of course that all means buying more and more equipment...:>))

Wally

[Jarrod McGehee]

It looks good Steve but I think that I'd try to make a more random pattern and put the extra things with the ink you did all around the HF. it may bring it all together better. just my opinion

[Ron McKinley]

I really like SW designs. You really nailed this one......Ron

[Steve Schlumpf]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone - I do appreciate it!

Wally - when I decided on the Zia form I also included the colors from New Mexico state flag. Red - in recognition of the native Americans who created the symbol, yellow to honor the first Europeans who ventured into the Southwest (the Spanish) and black - cause it was the other pen I had at the time! LOL

Not sure if I am ready for embellishments but I have to admit that I find your work very inspiring and have begun to put some serious thought into it.

[Keith Burns]

Steve this is very nice. I like the designs and understand the association with the number 4, but think overall the piece would look better with an odd number of symbols, 3, 5, 7 etc. Continue to explore.

[Cody Colston]

Let's see...a Southwest style hollow form embellished with symbols associated with Southwestern Indian tribes.

Yeah, I think it works. :D

I do think I would have stayed with one color...probably the yellow.

[George Morris]

I like it! why not try piercing next time? This looks great and I like the designs!! G

[Jim Kountz]

Steve as usual your form is excellent and while I do like the embellishments the only thing I was thinking was that they could have been larger?? Maybe not huge but just a touch bigger. This coming from a guy who really doesnt see proportions well though!!

[Bill Bolen]

Heck Steve...4 fours will about hit all the compass points... I think I'm getting mystic here...Bill..

[Don Eddard]

Steve this is very nice. I like the designs and understand the association with the number 4, but think overall the piece would look better with an odd number of symbols, 3, 5, 7 etc. Continue to explore.
While in most cases I'd agree with Keith's suggestion, in the case of the Zia symbol, the number four plays a significant role, somewhat along the lines Bill mentioned.

That said, I'll be the odd man out and say I'm not real fond of this particular example of embellishment. Your SW forms are great, and this one is no exception, but something about the embellishment seems to weaken the piece. I'm not sure if it's the colors (I think all black might have looked better) or if it's the fact that most pottery adorned with the Zia symbols would also have some other type of geometric designs to go with them. Whatever it is, this piece, while good, doesn't send me the way some of your other pieces do.

[Bob Hallowell]

Steve,
I brought the wife in and we stared at it for awhile and both agree it's a winner!

Bob

[Gary Simmons]

Steve... great job... really like it... the detail pulls out the grain and the piece is simple and elegant...

[Mark Patoka]

I like it. Not an overpowering addition to that wood. You turn out quite a few great looking HFs so sometimes you just gotta mix things up a bit to keep it fresh.

[Tim Cleveland]

Great peice Steve, The embellishments really help it. It's obvious (not too obvious) that the zia's were drawn on free hand, and I think that it really adds alot of character to the peice. Not sure about how you used different colors though. Very nice finish.

Tim

[Brian McInturff]

I sat and tried looking at this objectively. I do think it needs "something" else. Either around the opening or just above the center, below the Zia's. Maybe a small band at one of those locations. I think when you start using embellishment, you might want to look at the program Creative Woodturner or one of the few other programs where you might be able to play with placement and designs of the embellishings. Regardless, it's still a great looking piece as all of yours are. :cool:

[Allen Neighbors]

I love it!! Just the way it is!! It'll sell!! 'Course, you'd have to have two... one to keep! :D

[Curt Fuller]

Excellent! I really like it. Keep going with it now.