The Flame of Hope

[John Keeton]

Several turners, including many creekers, have been asked to donate a turning for an auction to be held for the Epilepsy Foundation. Fortunately, I do not have any familial experience with this affliction, though I have known several folks that suffer from the debilitating effects of seizures, including a close childhood friend.

In looking at their website, the colors used are blue and white, and the logo is "The Flame of Hope" representing the spirit of hope in reaching out to those affected by epilepsy.
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I have attempted to incorporate those elements in this turning.

A while back, I received a small piece of red maple from Jeff Nicol. I had partially formed it months ago, and knew at some point it needed to be dyed as it had a very tight curl pattern. I dug around and found it in my stash, hollowed it, washed on a very diluted black dye, sanded that back a little, and then applied several coats of Transtint blue. I topped that with a couple of coats of blue tinted lacquer wiped on. Then several coats of WOP, buffed and Ren wax.

The cove base is holly with a matte acrylic finish, and the flame finial is padauk, with a shellac finish. The padauk was placed in the sun for a couple of days to turn red. I suspect it will continue to darken some.

Dimensions are 3.75" wide, and the form is just over 1.75" tall. Including the flame, the total height is 4.25".

I enjoyed turning this one, and am pleased to have been asked to help. It is my "hope" that this piece, and the auction as a whole, will greatly benefit those suffering from epilepsy. Your comments are welcomed!
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[Steve Schlumpf]

Beautiful work John and your finial is quite creative! Nice work on the blue - always a hard color for me to get right! I know this piece will be a big hit at the auction!! Nice work for a great cause!!

[Bernie Weishapl]

John that is a beautiful piece. The form and the finial are outstanding as is the blue color. What a great cause to donate to. Hope it does well.

[Betty Fox]

My comment: Wow. Beautiful piece.

[Harvey Ghesser]

Beautiful piece, John. Should bring a nice donation at auction.

[Keith E Byrd]

Very nice John and a great cause - I know several who struggle with this and I appreciate your support for them.

[Alan Zenreich]

John,

That's a lovely piece and a great cause. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John, my friend, you artistic vision and skills are truly shown in this piece...the ability to envision and create it.....using turning and other skills. Truly incredible. It will be a hit.

[Harry Robinette]

john
Can't say much thats not been said,Beautiful piece and great cause.

[Jon Nuckles]

Agree with all that has been said, and the combination of the simple form, bright colors, tiger stripe and gloss finish really work well together.

[Tony De Masi]

I'm not sure how you come up with these ideas John, but I'm very happy that you do and even happier that you share them with us here. Beautiful work for an excellent cause.

[Bill Bolen]

Beautiful piece John. I especially like the flame finial. Sure fits the design on their website well. I'm sure the time and design effort will be paid for with many high bids.

[Roger Chandler]

A very nice piece.........for the wonderful purpose you made it, it has all the qualities that will make it a great benefit to the foundation. The color, the artistic concept, a well thought out finial, and replication of the logo is just truly fine. I think this will be well received and appreciated..............whomever becomes the final owner will have a treasure on their hands for sure!

Quality shows through in people as well when they do nice things such as this.......congratulations John!

[Chris Burgess]

Wow John. What a masterpiece.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Now that's a beauty made even better because it is for the less fortunate.
faust

[Tim Rinehart]

Really well done and appropriate finial for the cause. I agree, this should do well for such a worthy auction effort.
And oh yea...beautiful finish and classic form, as always expected from you John!! It really brings up so many creative ideas using the beautiful colors of our flag.

[charlie knighton]

very nice John, you are getting very creative with your finials. i as sure the cause will appreciate it

[David DeCristoforo]

You totally nailed the EF logo and color scheme. My oldest son is epileptic so this is a cause close to my heart. The blue color is awesome. The form looks "a bit too flat" at the bottom but that does not really detract from this piece.

[Jim Burr]

ahhh...very nice dye job!! Cool piece for a great cause. My aunt suffers from epilepsy and has been free of seizure activity for at least 30 years!

[Fred Belknap]

Good of you to contribute to a worthy cause. The piece is great and here hoping it brings big money for a good cause. I applaud your generosity not only here but in other situations on the forum.:)

[Rusty Smith]

Beautiful work and gesture of kindness and caring.

[Tim Thiebaut]

Wow John, beautiful!! Very well done...

[mike ash]

Nothing beautiful.. Great form, color and finish!

[Jeff Welch]

The only word I can come up with is, AWESOME!

[John Keeton]

Thanks so much for all the kind words. Just hope the auction is a great success - I know there will be a host of fine turnings there from others.

[Steve Vaughan]

That thing is just beautiful! Wow! Somebody gonna be mighty proud to own that piece!

[Dick Wilson]

John, If the OV Symposium is before the auction I WANT TO SEE IT IN PERSON!!!

[John Keeton]

Dick, the auction is not until November, so I will try to have it with me.

[Eric Holmquist]

Beautiful way to combine their colors and logo into an amazing piece of art. Great job.

[Baxter Smith]

Great work for a great cause John. Should bring in a lot! Love the blue and the finial is neat too!

[Curt Fuller]

Very pretty John!

[mike ash]

Nothing beautiful.. Great form, color and finish!

John - I meant to say....Nothing BUT beautiful!!! You are a true artist.

[Kathy Marshall]

Beautiful piece John! Absolutely love the colors! Very creative on the finial and for a great cause, I'm sure this will do very well at the auction!

[Marc Himes]

Another great piece and for a good cause to boot! I like the colors and the finial is very attractive,

[Michelle Rich]

It does feel good to donate something we turners love to do. The blue on this is amazing. The finial is quite creative. Great job

[Jeff Fagen]

A very cool blue and I like the fleet feet!

[David E Keller]

Nicely done, John! I hope the group of turnings brings in a ton of money for the foundation!

[Billy Tallant]

Wow!!! An amazing piece of work. Also for a great cause...

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

John great depth of color in the blue. I'm glad to hear it's going to a great cause as well. I donate several turnings a year to charity auctions & they always bring a good price for the charity ( most bring way above my retail price) & a PRICELESS feeling to me. I always feel I get more in return from them than if I were to sell them for the money.

[Larry Marley]

Very Nice John!

[Scott Hackler]

Very nice piece John. This will make an excellent addition to the collection and will definitely help increase the bids during the auction.

[Donny Lawson]

John, I think you done this one proud. It looks great.

[John Keeton]

Thanks, again, for taking the time to look and comment!

[steven carter]

John,

Been so busy that my "creek time" has been limited, but sure glad I got to see this one. Absolutely beautiful color, very well thought out design (as usual). Really like the finial, sure tops it off (no pun intended).

Steve

[Rob Cunningham]

An outstanding piece John. With work like yours, I'm sure the auction will be a great success.

[Cathy Schaewe]

That is absolutely beautiful -