Pedestal #2 Olive Burl Cup thingy

[Kathy Marshall]

So this is the 2nd attempt at a pedestal for this piece (although the 1st was never meant to be anything but a test piece).
Turned from hard maple, it's about 6 1/2" tall. The base is not the real base, just a scrap I drilled a hole in so I could stand the piece up, but the more I look at it, the more I think a smaller base might work better. Maybe not quite as small as the scrap but somewhere in that neighborhood.
I carved the top of the stem into leaflet/petal things. While I love the idea of carving it to make look like the base of a flower, I'm not sure my attempt quite hit the mark, maybe I'll get better with practice.
The 1st pic is with the maple naked :eek: . The other pics show it dyed with india ink. I definitely like the darker color, but I think the black might be too dark. I'll try a light sanding tomorrow and see how that looks.
I'm fairly happy with this one, but it could definitely be improved upon.
I picked up several spindle blanks today, including some nice figured walnut, so I'll try a few more this weekend.

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[Michelle Rich]

Proportions from photos is a crap shoot..so I will not weigh in there, but I do like your petal base for the cup..I think it is a great step up..This piece has great potential & I'll leave the proportions to the folks who do the skinny stick turnings.

[John Hart]

I really like where you're going Kathy. Yeah...I'll leave my opinion out of stem design too...and think about color. I almost like the naked maple....but I was thinking about dyes. I know you can use kool-aid and vinegar to create a full spectrum of color and I was thinking a cherry/blueberry mix to almost a maroon.

Or....maybe I drink too much kool-aid. :eek::D

[John Keeton]

Kathy, this is so subjective. Most everyone will have a different take on it. You have a good eye for design, and you know what you want. I would suggest you go with your own feelings on this. I do like the carving, but I wonder what it would look like snugged up against the form like an actual flower cup would look vs. flared out. It looks like it would be about the right "wrap" to provide a nice flow into the cup.

On the figured walnut, be careful about using a piece that has very irregular grain. Getting a fragile stem from that type of material can be tricky - they like to shear off with any cutting pressure. Beautiful, but challenging.

[Roland Martin]

Kathy, very nice figure in the cup, a great piece of wood. The carved petals are a nice touch, but now that John has suggested they wrap around the cup rather then flare out, it may give it a nicer flow. Very nice work.

[David E Keller]

Very cool, Kathy! I like your plan to stay small but still slightly larger on the foot.

Your carving effort for a flower pedestal turned out better than my first attempt, and I really like the look. I like it flared away from the form, too. Sanding those little boogers is not much fun, huh?

[Steve Schlumpf]

I like it so far! I like how you flaired the pedals out and away from the form. Draws attention to the carving without distracting from the form. Just wondering on the carved pedals - if they would look nicer if each pedal came more to a point? Also, would it be too much if the foot was carved to match the top of the pedestal?

[David DeCristoforo]

My personal preference is for a taller stem. But this is a great direction. I have a few things "on the drawing board" that incorporate a similar idea for the top of the stem. My recent forays have been more "formal" goblet shapes but I just acquired some nice maple burl caps so some "flower" forms are in the que and the petaled stem is definitely going to play a part. I'm really interested in seeing where you go with this.

[Dennis Ford]

This is very nice, I love the carved petals. I agree with you on a base that is slightly larger than the temporary one. Walnut would make a nice version of this pedestal but use straight grain to avoid trouble as John mentioned.

[Dan Forman]

Like the improvements so far, I'm not sure about making the base any smaller, but then it's hard to tell from the photo. I think I would want to avoid the appearance that base and upper flower thingy were the same diameter. Other than that, I don't want to make any suggestions without being able to see what they would look like first, as I'm very new to this pedestal finial thing.

Dan

[Bernie Weishapl]

I like it Kathy. I like the carved flowers and how they flair out. I do like the dark pedestal.

[Michael James]

You're doing some amazing work! Tweak it until you love it - you're definitely on the right track.

[Curt Fuller]

I also like where you're going with this Kathy, especially the carved pedals at the top of the pedestal. Something that came to my mind while I was looking at it was how the burl has a natural and somewhat irregular shape while the carved flower base is more symmetrical. I wonder if you were to randomly shape the pedals, even just slightly, if it would give it a more natural look? I also wanted to second what JK said about turning skinny spindles from figured wood. I'd go for straight grain and maybe use some figured wood in the base.

[Baxter Smith]

Lots to like here! The petals/sepals are a great touch but they seem a little too short, rounded and symmetrical. Perhaps a little longer, slightly pointed and with an irregular look as Curt suggesed would better fit the natural beauty of the cup. Whether they wrap around the cup or point outwards might no matter so much then.

[Kathy Marshall]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions everyone!

Tonight I started another "top of the pedestal" thingy out of walnut. Decided to try something a little bit different, and had an "ah ha" moment. Have a little more work to do on it tomorrow and then we'll see if it works. I think the walnut will work well with the cup, the color should be a nice complement to the olive.