Delicate Distraction

[Scott Hackler]

While I am supposed to be completing my Christmas ornaments this year, I have gotten a bit distracted on various other things. This is one of them!

Natural edged black ash burl with African blackwood. 5 1/2" tall x 3" wide x 3/32" walls on the cup. Finished with 5 coats of WOP.

Comments and constructive critiques encouraged, thanks!

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[Ron Bontz]

Beautiful. Love the grain.

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a beauty Scott. That burl is beautiful.

[mike ash]

Beautiful job Scott. I love the black ash burl, and the shape makes me want to pick it up and hold it (will it hold red wine?).

[Brian Brown]

Nice piece to get distracted over. *That's georgeous George .. errrr Scott

[Alan Trout]

Scott,

That is a beautiful piece and very well done. Excellent proportions and great execution. Its Not my personal style but I still like looking at pieces like this. You have really developed your talent over the last several month's. Well done.

Alan

[David Reed]

Love the burl. The cup is not my favorite style but the sweeping curve is very well done. I do love the pedestal and appears exceptionally well done. What is the minimum diameter? Looks kind-a small.

[Scott Hackler]

Thanks for the comments. This little dude (the cup portion) has been sitting on my "get it done" shelf for months. For some reason I committed to finishing it and is fought me the whole way. The original tenon on the bottom of the cup was 1/2". That made the top of the proposed stem too large, so I jam chucked the cup and turned the tenon down to 1/4" and had to reshape the bottom to meet it. Next was trying to make a foot out of just enough material. One slip and no more black ash burl and I don't have any more to start again! STRESS! Then mating the stem took a lot of trial and error. Anyway... I had to vent. I am glad this one is complete!



... What is the minimum diameter? Looks kind-a small.

David, I just put a tape behind the stem and the middle (narrowest part) is exactly 1/16". Thanks

Mike, it would hold about a shot glass full of wine....but it would hold it! :)

[Dick Wilson]

Hi Scott, Beautiful cup and stem. Colors match perfectly. My eye keeps being drawn to the base. Don't know why exactly. Only thing I can think of is the base being undercut. This all coming from a guy who is struggling with tops:rolleyes:. I don't think I would change a thing. It is a winner!

[Kathy Marshall]

Beautiful piece Scott! The wood is very nice and you've got a beautiful curve on the cup. The natural edge looks great and the pedestal looks just right to me.

[Don Alexander]

looks like a dang nice ornament to me :D:D

that one is a grand slam

[Dan Forman]

Love it, glad you didn't mess it up :)

Dan

[joel nucifore]

love the pc but I am with mr. willson on this my eyes go right to the base, like something is just off, maybe its just the PIC. The rest is outstanding......

[John Keeton]

Scott, a beautiful piece of wood, and well executed!

In keeping with the recent thread on critique, I will offer a couple of thoughts, though I suspect the remake of the cup and lack of "surplus" material factored in here. The small angular transition from the pedestal to both the cup and base seem somewhat in contrast with the roundness of the cup and disrupts slightly the transition into each. A curved transition might work better IMO.

I know you and DD like the tall/high onion on these stems, but it really pushes the visual mass upward and that draws the eye back to the base - making it critical that it be dead on. I think the relative flatness of the base in contrast to the roundness of the cup is difficult here. Perhaps a concave base with more height/thickness might work - would have to think about it some. Cindy Drozda does some work where she moves the embellishment of the pedestal up close to the form (as opposed to the 2/3 mark), and IMO that is a difficult thing to accomplish. Unless the proportions are perfect, it can throw off the balance of the piece. IMO, some of her pieces suffer from that situation, though she gets it right far more often than I could!! I offer that simply as a general comment. One might play around with the size of the onion on this pedestal and that might greatly affect the visual impact of the base - hard to know sometimes. And, on paper, it is difficult to predict the effect of the contrast in color on a piece (black pedestal) - that can have a dramatic effect, too. On some of my sketches, I will darken various elements in an attempt to see what that does visually to a piece.

But, more to the point - you do fine work, and while each one of us might change things on this piece, nothing takes away from the quality of the piece - it is simply very well done.

[Eric Gourieux]

Scott, I really enjoy your work. But, here is what I don't understand. You appear to be a young man, and I assume you have a job and family. If either is true, how do you produce so many beautiful pieces so often? It seems that you post another beautiful piece every day or so. I'm not complaining. I love to see your work. But, I'm jealous 1) that I can't turn such beautiful pieces, and 2) that I can't turn ANYTHING as quickly as you seem to. You must be a very quick turner.
This piece is beautifully done, as are all of your turnings. My eye isn't experienced enough to offer the critiques that others can.

[Scott Hackler]

Thanks for the comments and thanks John for the candid critique. Points well taken. Whats hard to see in the picture is that both ends of the stem are concave, just slightly. Very hard to see in the picture and up close the details look a tad better. Either way, a learning lesson an another set of experiments under the ole belt.

[Scott Hackler]

Eric,

Married, 42, 2 teenagers (my bio). I have been spending a lot of time lately (every night) in the shop trying to finish up things before my carpal tunnel surgery on Friday and Christmas. Usually I only get to turn/create once or twice a week. I have, at any given time, 3-10 pieces in different stages of finish. Either drying, needed sanded, need another element created to finish (i.e., pedestal or finial) or waiting for another coat of finish to dry.

Right now, for example, there is a tall vase with its 4th coat of WOP drying...a lidded pot with the first coat of WOP drying...another piece of curly maple on the lathe ready to be turned into a ornament ball...and 8-10 items that need fininished that are in various stages of "I don't feel like working on that right now"!

Thanks

[Roger Chandler]

Scott,

This is a piece that gets into the "elite stratosphere" seen on this forum from time to time............I think along with John, that the likely lack of material did factor into this piece and did not allow for a more finely transitioned base............I also think the bulb at the top of the pedestal interrupts the flow upward a bit.........a bulb at the bottom near the pedestal would have been a better choice in my opinion.

I would take a stab at a guess here............if you are like me.......sometimes you just turn a piece from what you have on hand to work with..........not like JK who plans it out on paper makes sure he has all he needs to do the concept and has a finely detailed and well thought through plan...........you may do some of that............

I have had times when I was simply "getting the most" out of what I had to work with..........I think you have no doubt done the same here. This piece shows a refinement in your skills.........you are quickly adding so many [piercing, pyro, etc] that you are becoming recognized ........published in magazines, cover pics on WOW, etc.

Quite an accomplishment and this piece shows off your hard work and development..............congratulations!

[Tim Rinehart]

Beautiful piece Scott. I go along with Roger's comments on your dedication and ascension. It's paying off handsomely for you in your ability to produce such wonderful pieces with great attention to detail. You seem to always be pushing outside the norm a bit, and that has met with some surprise and less than complete support, but in your support, you are developing 'your' unique style(s).
Great job and best of luck with your surgery. You'll be back at lathe before end of December, I suspect!