Not as exciting as Leo's news but...

[Toney Robertson]

I entry some pieces in the Nine County Art Fair in Wabash Indiana at the Honeywell Center (VERY nice place). They had 85 artists in 3 divisions - Painting - Drawing and Other. Of course I am in the other category. The piece below took second place. I even made enough to offset the entry fee!!! :D I posted pictures before but I will post them again so that you don't have to dig through the archives to find the piece I am talking about.

Red Mallee - 12" x 9 3/4" - AO - Ren Wax and buffed. Since they always want the pieces named for these art fairs, I named this one Mallee Joy. Kind of corny but hey, you got to play the game. LOL

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj101/iublue/100-100.jpg


http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj101/iublue/100-100A.jpg

[Bernie Weishapl]

Congrats Toney. Beautiful piece and well deserved.

[Bill Bolen]

Beautiful piece Toney....isn't a bit of recognition grand!...Bill..

[Ted Calver]

Congratulations!! It's a lovely piece and worthy of the award.

[Richard Madison]

Better than Mallee Glee?? Well done Toney!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Congrats Toney! Beautiful work! Love the contrasting colors and finish!

[steven carter]

Way to go Toney! Great job with the Mallee.

Steve

[John Keeton]

Toney, congrats, and great piece!! Being new to this forum, I missed the original post. Absolutely beautiful wood and very pleasing form. I am curious on the finial. My eyes deceive me at times, but it appears the finial is topped with acrylic, or faceted?? Hard to tell. Could you elaborate? And, it is lidded or hollowed? Sorry for the questions, but I am trying to soak up all the knowledge I can about this addiction!!:D

Either way, just an excellent piece.

[Robert McGowen]

I have never seen mallee turned like that before, Toney. Very unique and very nice. Congrats on your show.

[Brian Effinger]

Congratulations Toney! :) It is a beautiful piece, and well deserved award.

[Ken Glass]

Toney,
Well Done! That is a striking piece. Great form and finish. A beautiful piece of Red Mallee indeed. You should be proud of this one and the "Bronze Metal" finish in the show.

[Rob Cunningham]

Congratulations Toney. A very beautiful piece.

[Bob Vavricka]

Toney, Congratulations--I keep coming back to the second photo. In that photo, it almost looks like your are looking down into a hollowed out form (bowl shape) and that the finial is just floating above it. I also would like to know the answers to John's questions.
Thanks, for sharing.

[Baxter Smith]

Outstanding colors! Never seen anything quite so bright! Congratulations on the award!

[Mark Hubl]

Congratulations! I thought this was a winner when you first posted it. Nice shape, great color and proportions. Well done.

[Alan Zenreich]

Very nice... inspiring me to try a shape similar to that one.

[alex carey]

beauty, id like to see what the hell could have beaten you!!!

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hard to beat a beautiful piece of wood like this Toney, and congratulations, well deserved :) :)

[charlie knighton]

congratulations, very nice

[Pete Jordan]

Congrats Toney!

I love the color and shape of this piece!

[Roland Martin]

Congratulations, I too wonder what may have beaten you. Absolutely great color & form.

[David Walser]

Tony,

That's a beautiful piece. Very well done.

"Mallee Joy"? Darn! I was planning on using that name.

[David E Keller]

Beautiful piece of wood and a very interesting form. Congrats!

[Toney Robertson]

Toney, congrats, and great piece!! Being new to this forum, I missed the original post. Absolutely beautiful wood and very pleasing form. I am curious on the finial. My eyes deceive me at times, but it appears the finial is topped with acrylic, or faceted?? Hard to tell. Could you elaborate? And, it is lidded or hollowed? Sorry for the questions, but I am trying to soak up all the knowledge I can about this addiction!!:D

Either way, just an excellent piece.

No the finial is African Blackwood and since it was buffed what you see is reflections of the light.

It is lidded. The lid has a recess in it that fits over the bowl. In the first picture if you look closely you can see the line of the lid. This was all one piece of Mallee. I band sawed the top 1 14" off to make the top. So when the lid is aligned correctly the grain continues over the edge and down the bowl. Here is a picture of the inside. Not very dramatic but....

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj101/iublue/100-100C.jpg

I usually use "free" wood but because of it's size this piece here was quite expensive for my tastes. It sure increased the heart beat to turn it knowing that one slip and there goes a good chunk of green. The cost of the wood has also made it hard to sell. Surely someone will come along with the money???

Thanks to all for the kind words.

Toney

http://sawmillcreek.org/%3Ca%20href=%22http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj101/iublue/?action=view&current=100-100C.jpg%22%20target=%22_blank%22%3E%3Cimg%20src=% 22http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj101/iublue/100-100C.jpg%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22Red%20Mallee %20Burl%20-%2012"%20x%209%203/4"%22%3E%3C/a%3E

[Hilel Salomon]

Toney,

I can't imagine how anything could have taken first place with that as competition!!!!
Fantastic,

Hilel.

[Steve Mawson]

Very nice, can see why it placed very high. Been to the Honeywell Center many times. Great facility.

[Tim Browne]

The cost of the wood has also made it hard to sell. Surely someone will come along with the money???

Thanks to all for the kind words.

Toney

Beautiful piece Toney, well done and worth every penny you invested. When you try to sell it you should market it as "a prize winning sculpture". Some art lover will snatch that up I'm sure.

[John Terefenko]

Beautiful piece Toney, well done and worth every penny you invested. When you try to sell it you should market it as "a prize winning sculpture". Some art lover will snatch that up I'm sure.


Tim makes a very good point about selling strategy. Artsy people love that kind of stuff.

I would love to have seen what took first if this was second. Thanks for answering the question about the lid because I too could not see the line with the great grain match. To me it looks like a first place winner. I can only hope someday being able to do something like that let alone have enough nerve to buy the blank and mount it on a lathe. Thanks for showing.

[Mauricio Ulloa]

Really nice! Great job! Nice shapes!

[George Guadiane]

Beautiful piece - Congratulations on the recognition!

[Toney Robertson]

Beautiful piece Toney, well done and worth every penny you invested. When you try to sell it you should market it as "a prize winning sculpture". Some art lover will snatch that up I'm sure.

That is a great idea Tim.

I hope it works.

Toney