Plainjane cottonwood and my friend Al........

[Michael James]

Last fall I roughed out this saucer sized dish (7" across, ~ 3/16" thick) and forgot about it until a couple of weeks ago. I had talked to my friend Al, who is a lifetime chronic doodler about putting some color on a piece. He has 5 books of copyright free Native American patterns and designs, and picked this design for his 1st. He is not happy with the bleed/blur in spots due to alc in the ink on sanded back shellac (Lesson #1) and wanted me to just sand it away which I refuse to do. He should keep his #1 just like the rest of us.

Im really looking forward to having him do some seedpots and bowls as time allows.
I feel fortunate that he is bored enough to do this with me, as he's the kind of guy that can do beach scene on a coffee cup with a bic! We'll just have to figure out the right combination of chemicals. So I'm open to all suggestions any/all of you have on that. We will go to lacquer on the next piece.
Thanks in advance,
mj
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[Jeff Nicol]

Mj, Looks like a nice old native work, by it not being "Perfect" it looks more realistic. I love plain old cotton wood and turn a lot of it.

Tuned out nice,

Jeff

[Michelle Rich]

I think you have chosen your friends well! I hope you two figure out your technical problems and get us all some wonderful art to view

[John Hart]

What a cool idea! Nice teaming up. There is so much "plain" wood that a little dressing up can really make a difference. Pretty neat MJ. :)

[John Keeton]

Beautiful piece, MJ! I would consider a matte acrylic sealer for a base and to seal the paint work before any top coat of finish. Or, just use the acrylic spray for the finish, too. It is great stuff and has a real low sheen that will let the artwork be the star of the show. Alcohol and lacquer do not do well together. The alcohol will dissolve the lacquer, perhaps even quicker than the shellac.

[Tim Thiebaut]

I really like this, you did a very nice job on the saucer, and your friend Al did some fine artwork on it, nice combination!

[John Hart]

... Alcohol and lacquer do not do well together.

I thought it was "Driving and Lacquer do not do well together"??:confused:

[Baxter Smith]

Very nice work! It must be fun to collaborate!

[Roger Chandler]

Looks like you have a pretty good collaboration going on there, MJ..................when you 2 get it all figured out, I think some pretty special works will follow. :)

[Jim Burr]

That's some cool work on both parts...platter has to be good to draw on in the first place, and the art is very cool!! A lot of guys that do pyro use oil pens. Might be worth looking at. Great work bud!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really nice platter and art. Great job by both. I agree with John to put down a acrylic coat first before lacquer. It does tend to make things bleed especially if you get heavy handed with it. Most times if I use lacquer I just give it the lightest of coats for the first two or three.

[Cathy Schaewe]

That is really cool - you guys could have something there, working together! My friend Don Leydens (you can see his work on WoW), recommended to me one time to use Tombow Dual Brush pens. I got a set, and haven't had any problems with bleeding. YMMV, of course, but I really like them.

[Michael James]

Thanks everybody for the comments and tips! John, I'll give the acrylic a try for under/over coats. Not sure what all kind of pens Al's got...he did this with sharpies.

[Roger Wilson]

...He has 5 books of copyright free Native American patterns and designs...

Are these published books or just his own notebooks? If published do you have the names of them?

Nice work.

[Michael James]

Are these published books or just his own notebooks? If published do you have the names of them?

Nice work.

Thanks. They are published books - I'll get the titles next weekend and PM them to you.
mj

[Michael James]

Thanks. They are published books - I'll get the titles next weekend and PM them to you.
mj

Since several of you have asked about the titles, I thought I'd just post em here. Finally had a chance to catch up to Al and he gave em up. All books published by Dover and may be out of print, but found when googled as:

DECORATIVE ART OF THE SOUTHWEST INDIANS - Dorothy Smith Sides

Designs on Prehistoric Hopi Pottery, by Jesse Walter Fewkes

Pueblo Pottery Designs (Dover Pictorial Archives) by Kenneth Mil Chapman

Pueblo Designs: Mera, H. P

Happy Hunting,
mj

[jwjerry w kowalski]

You made a plain jane piece of wood into a work of art, I really like the design.