SMC Art Challenge 2010- Thom Sturgill

[Thom Sturgill]

Here's my entries -
The gouge handle is obviously utilitarian even though embellished. The embellishment (hand carved with knives, by the way) is functional as a grip. The tool is also part of a separate tool gloat. The wood is a scrap of mahogany scrounged from a furniture factory and then passed on to our club when the original woodworker had a stroke :(. The finish is Minwax stain to highlight the carving and then one quick coat of Formby's Tung Oil Finish to seal it.

The art object is a bowl and *could* be functional, but is designed for appearance not utility. The inside is painted blue acrylic and then silver leaf was applied. The bowl is a another scrap of mahogany from the furniture factory.

The inlay is ground blue Lapis in epoxy. This stuff is harder than my tools:eek:. I had to regrind everything that touched it. The finish is lacquer. Only hand buffed at this point.
It is being sent to a niece as a wedding gift.

Comments and critique are, of course, welcome.

[John Keeton]

Thom, that handle already caught my eye in your other thread!!;) Really high class tool handle.

I like what you have done with the bowl - really pulls together several elements into a very homogenous piece. I like the color, and it contrasts very well with the mahogany! Nice!

[Tim Rinehart]

I've already commented on fine work on that handle, indisputable that it's the utilitarian piece. (wow, I got that right without spell check!!).

I'll go completely with you on the other piece being art, as the leafing wouldn't hold up well to actual use, I suspect.

That's a nice hefty walled bowl, nice color combination. Was there a particular reason for the blue acrylic under the silver? Have you tried without and had bad results? I'm still playing with the leafing...would like to hear any 'lessons' you may offer from own mistakes.

Great entries!

[Thom Sturgill]

<snip> Was there a particular reason for the blue acrylic under the silver?

I did it for two reasons - first, thats the way I saw it done - blue for silver and red for gold. The metal is so-o-o-o thin that the color tone will show through. Also I knew that their would be gaps and the color would show, so blue matched the Lapis. (in fact I 'encouraged' the gaps)

[charlie knighton]

very nice....

[David E Keller]

Nicely done. The handle is great... I may have to try and copy that.

I like the art piece. Nice soft corners and a sense of weight... It reminds me a little bit of a river stone.

Kudos to you for the metal leafing... I tried that a few weeks ago when I was with Jimmy Clewes, and I hated everything about it:mad:... Too fussy for me! Of course, mine didn't turn out as well as yours.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Thom - very nice work on the handle - love the carving! Interesting bowl because of the combination of materials! Pretty cool!

[Baxter Smith]

Great looking handle and bowl!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great turnings but love the handle.