Contemporary Southwestern Style Vase

[Steve Schlumpf]

Maple, 6” diameter x 5” high x 1/8” thick. Dyed with a few different colors of RIT dye and finished with gloss wipe-on poly. Hard to see in the photos but there are a number of large eyes across the top of the form.

183468 183472 183471 183466 183470 183467 183469

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

Thanks for looking!

[Roger Chandler]

This is pretty Steve. Great color and finish on this. This southwestern form does not conform to the oft cited 2/3rds rule with the shoulder a little bit down from that , or maybe it is an optical illusion with the long neck making the shoulder seem lower than it really is.

This is very nice, as are all the works I have seen from you.

[Ron Bontz]

Another beautiful piece as always Steve. The coloring seems to really set it off.

[John Keeton]

Steve, the color choice and the "fade" to the top seem to have worked!! The third pic really is a nice shot of this piece. Well done!! I like the form - very much, and it is all the more enhanced with the addition of the color. This will be a very nice addition to the gallery!

[Nate Davey]

Wonderfully done Steve. I love the simple flowing forms you make.

[David E Keller]

The finish is fantastic, but I'm not crazy about the form or the color. I appreciate your willingness to try different forms, but this one misses the mark for me. As always, I'm looking forward to your next piece.

[Carol Kinney]

Very nicely done Steve, love the colors with the flowing grain and if you faded from darker to lighter you did a fantastic job. I'm also not a big fan of the form but you made it look very nice with the flowing curve. Nice job - oh I also like the gloss wipe-on poly, I can't believe that is just wipe on! Now you're going to have me trying it out :) How many coats of poly did you end up using to get the nice gloss?

[Tony Pridmore]

Steve, the surface prep and finish looks flawless. No tool or sanding marks. I like the dye work as it gives the piece some richness and warmth. As for form, I would like to see more gentle curve to the lower section with the shoulder a little higher.

Thanks for sharing the pics.

-Tony

[Mark Hubl]

Certainly a Steve piece. I like the color and finish.

[Curt Fuller]

Steve, the form looks almost identical to some Navajo pottery I saw at an antique show this weekend. So you've done a great job with the southwest look. When I first saw the color of the wood I thought it might be some of the same kind of wood I got from Vaughn McMillan a while back...Red Ironbark Eucalyptus. Your finish is like glass, as always. Really a beautiful piece of work.

[charlie knighton]

very nice, Steve

[Doug W Swanson]

Maybe it's just me but I'm not big on the form. I don't think there is anything wrong with it but it's just not my style....

That said, I think the finish and color are great!

[Baxter Smith]

The finish and color look great. Don't know enough about the southwest forms to judge the shape. I can't say that it appeals to me as much as your other SW shapes.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I very much concur with Baxter, the color is quite nice and it being Maple is not easy to get it even without blotching, you did well on that Steve, as for the shape, I think it could stand slightly more curve on the lower half :cool:.

[Harry Robinette]

Steve
Everyone really likes this piece and it is beautiful, But I really think its off in the top ether the opening is about a inch to high or the wide part is an inch to low.The pictures truly shows what we have all talked about here before 1/3 top 2/3 bottom.Of course just MHO.

Harry

[Rich Aldrich]

Steve - nice finish and color. The surface looks flawless. I like the form, but maybe a little wider bottom, less taper, would help set it off. Maybe it is the 1/3 - 2/3 theory like Harry said. Nice looking wood.

[Michael James]

We have seen this pottery form as authentic NA work. Me thinks you nailed it and I like the color job too. As usual, finish is outstanding!
mj

[Steve Schlumpf]

Thanks for your opinions and comments everyone - I do appreciate it!

I understand that this form will not be a favorite for a lot of folks because it does not follow the 1/3-2/3s rule that we are all so fond of. I did a lot of study of Southwestern style pottery and found that there are many examples where the 1/3-2/3s rule was not followed - yet the piece was still an identifiable Southwest form. This piece is not a direct copy of anything out there that I am aware of but more of a compilation of various styles into a contemporary form. There are times when it is fun to bend the rules a little and see what happens...

Thanks again everyone for your comments!

[Dan Forman]

Interesting form and great finish. It's not a bad thing to ignore the rules now and then. :).

Dan

[Michelle Rich]

I think your dye made this a much more eye-appealing piece. The color (at least on my monitor) is just lovely. And this is from a person who isn't into dye! But I can't say. I'm not being converted by this piece! thanks for helping me see a new world!

[philip labre]

Steve, really nice piece. I'm a fan of bending/expanding the rules. Great finish as usual, although I'm not a big fan of the Rit dyes, my wife really likes the color.

[Gerold Griffin]

WHAT? THERE ARE RULES TO FORM? I thought the only the only rule to form on a lathe was it had to be ROUND!!! Steve I love it and your ability with Rit dyes is fantastic. Having tried using them on some maple I am in awe. Could you please explain your process for this?

[gary Zimmel]

Real nice work as usual Steve. The color on this piece is really an eye catcher.

[Rob Cunningham]

Nice color and a flawless finish. It's an interesting shape, but I think it will take a little time to get used to.

[Wally Dickerman]

Steve, I'll have to join several others and say that everything about the piece is very good except the form. Living in Arizona I see a lot of native pottery. Some I like, others I don't. Just because some the pot was made by a Hopi potter doesn't necessarily make the form a good one. Present day potters make pots to sell, not to use.

Places like the Heard museum in Phoenix that has many hundreds of ancient pots is a good place to study SW style pottery. I think that it's good to realize that all of the ancient pottery was made to be funtional. Used to store grain, or squash seeds or carry water, or whatever. On of my favorites is one that you don't often see. The pots were made to store seeds so that the mice wouldn't get them. The opening is just large enough to put in seeds one at a time. At planting time the pot was broken to get at the seeds. At the museums, most of the seed pots are broken ones.

My favorite pots are the Mata Ortiz pots. Mostly for the designs on the pots rather than the forms. Most are very thin walled. I've watched a Mata Ortiz potter making them. The process is very interesting. I've seen them with a price tag of as much as $5000. I have a couple of small ones that were in a very different price range.

Wally

[Tony De Masi]

Having not spent any time looking at or studying SW styles I will just admire this piece on it's own. That being said, I like this one alot. The shape, color, and finish. You may have bent some of the rules that are normally used, but to me it's another stunning piece you've created.