One line only...

[David DeCristoforo]

The goal was simple. A single sweet curve from the edge of the base to the tip of the rim. I lost track of how many times I drew this line. Seemed like it should be easy. Not!!! But drawing it was easier than actually making it! I have about fifteen variations on this on paper and I'm thinking that it might work better (and be easier) with a wider, shorter form. This one is 3.5" at the rim X 14" tall. I went for this tall form simply because I had this piece of ash burl that was exactly right for it. I managed to not totally screw it up. The base/stem is black dyed rosewood.

229336

[Roger Chandler]

Another impressive turning David............one nit, and it is likely a preference thing with my eye.......the diameter of the pedestal base could have been about 3/8" less ............I think you would have been dead on with proportions with that change, which would make the mass of the pedestal base just a little more slender going down the curve to the bottom which I also think would improve the line just a little...............on paper, that might not have shown up well, and you may have tried that line............

Now eyeballing it from a picture over a forum...............perhaps your eye was much better.......maybe because of the height of the turning it just seems a bit large to my eye........beautiful work, again!

[Bill Hensley]

Graceful comes to mind. Agreed, you did not screw it up.

[philip labre]

I really like this DD!!! Simple is NEVER simple. Great lines.

[charlie knighton]

I managed to not totally screw it up. well done, David

[paul vechart]

Very nice David...how narrow does the stem get?

[John Keeton]

I am pondering my thoughts on this one - will get back later! I take it you are going to do more of these?

[Steve Schlumpf]

David - I think this is a very challenging idea and for the most part I think you did well. The only part that bothers me is the size of the base... in this case it seems to overpower the rest of the form. Could be because it is black, the angle of the photo, or something else but to me it detracts from the overall piece... IMO.

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a beauty DD. I really like the form on this one.

[David DeCristoforo]

"...how narrow does the stem get?"

1/8"

"I take it you are going to do more of these?"

I consulted my eight ball and the answer was "It is certain." This is the "experiment" I mentioned to you...

"The only part that bothers me is the size of the base..."

I could not agree more. I was so focused on getting a fair curve that I really didn't notice how heavy the base looked until it was done.

[Baxter Smith]

Nice looking curve David. I imagine a shorter curve would be a good bit easier since there would be a lot less distance for me to potentially screw it up.:)
If drawing this was easier than turning, and you had to draw it 15 times.....thats a lot of rosewood.:)

[Josh Bowman]

David, all in all my eye likes the shape. I personally like the contrasts of the wood. But for some reason, my eye is drawn to the thinness of the stem. Maybe it could be slightly thicker, I think the bases weight compared to the slightness of the stem kind of makes it unbalanced. It may be the shortness of the base in comparison to the vase. But again, I can't put my finger on exactly why my eye is dawn to that stem. However it's still a nice piece and I really like where your going with this. I look forward to the next revision.

[Ed Morgano]

David,
I love the concept and I like the stem blending into the form. The one thing that draws my eye is the sharp line. I would rather see it fade from the Ash burl to a dark brown to the black in the lower part of the pedestal.

[Doug W Swanson]

Very nice, David! Sometimes simple is good!

[Alan Trout]

David,

This is an awesome piece. I like everything about it.

Alan

[Sid Matheny]

You get an A+ from me on this one DD.

Sid

[Brian Kent]

David, how exactly do you suspend physics, geometry, and gravity to get the wood to stretch out like that?

[Mike Cruz]

I think that curve looks easy...easy to screw up that is! I would have whittled away at that until I had a 14" toothpick. Simply amazing to me...

[Deane Allinson]

I really like this one. I like it best of all that I have seen so far. It is hard to do simple correctly and you have it down pat on this one.
Deane

[Tim Rinehart]

I'm with Alan...like it all! Sweet elegance!

[John Keeton]

OK, I have come back to this thread no fewer than 6 times in an effort to pin down my thoughts. First, as is always the case, David, your execution is superb. The curves are well done, and I really, really like the concept. The wood combination is excellent.

Like some of the others, the base seems overpowering to me. But, I am not sure the answer lies in a smaller base. I always like to see only one point of minimum diameter in any stem, pedestal, finial, cove, curve, etc. It just avoids a flat spot, and that point generally works better if it occurs at the 1/3 point - up or down. You seem to always do very well with that in all your work, as you did in this piece. I wonder what effect would occur by simply moving the point of the smallest stem diameter to the upper third of the stem? It would provide a bit more "dark" going into the base, and would necessarily cause the transition into the top and the lower portion of the cup to be somewhat slimmer. That would emphasize the "flare" at the top and may offset the base.

You seem to have good proportion between the cup and stem - the cup appears to be half the length of the stem, or 1/3 the total height, but I think with the lower placement of the small diameter, it makes the "visual transition" seem much lower and actually more about halfway the total height - again, I think contributing to the over emphasis on the base.

Hope this makes sense.

As an aside, I notice you use rosewood for many of your stems - do you find that it dyes easily, tools easily, or do you simply have a good stash?? Just curious as my "go to" woods for that purpose seem to be holly and African blackwood.

I hesitate to venture out on something like this as it seems obvious most folks really like it - as do I. But, I also know you, and I know that you truly want input from others. I do look forward to where you go with this - it is a refreshing look! David, you are an artist, in the best sense of the word, and this series has great promise!

[Scott Hackler]

OK, I had to wait and give this piece some thought. I like the concept and can see a series of these developing. A couple things that would improve the overall visual appearance for me. 1) drop the bottom of the top wood to closer to the narrowest part of the piece. For some reason, the piece looks "less delicate" than I am used to seeing from you. I think that is becuase of the thicker bottom of the top wood. 2) the base needs to be thinner. Similar to your Amphora pieces, but without the extra wood at the bottom.

Overall it is an interesting design and with a few tweaks I think you maybe onto something. Nice work.

[David DeCristoforo]

Thanx for all the comments.


"If drawing this was easier than turning, and you had to draw it 15 times.....thats a lot of rosewood."


I should mention that i did not actually make this fifteen times. I drew it fifteen times but I only actually made it once (so far).


"…how exactly do you…get the wood to stretch out like that?"


I use something left over from my "flatwork" days. We used it all the time. It's called a "board stretcher".


"…I would rather see it fade from the Ash burl to a dark brown to the black…"


I had considered that and I am sure it will be so on at least some future pieces. On this one, I was visualizing a kind of "mirror image" thing and the "hard line" seemed like an appropriate way to go.


Several people have commented on the exaggerated base. I had a feeling that I had made the base with a bit too much mass. I wanted it to be substantial enough to "anchor" the piece and it "looked right" when it was in the horizontal position on the lathe. When I make my pedestals, I have a long 3/8 or 1/2" tenon on the bottom, held in a collet chuck. I had the thought that I should stand this piece upright on my bench with the tenon stuck into one of the dog holes. Had I done so, I probably would have ended up reducing the size of the base. But then I got distracted and when I got back to the lathe, I just jumped in and parted off the tenon. So there it is!


"…I notice you use rosewood…do you simply have a good stash…"


I have quite a bit of rosewood left over from my chessboard making days. Rosewood is one of my favorite woods so I am never adverse to using it. I would like to try blackwood but have not as yet.


"…you are an artist…"


We used to frequent a health food store in Carson City Nevada owned by a woman from South Carolina. She looked at my signature on a check one day and asked, "Djew dew sum kinna ort?" since then I have always considered myself to be "Sum kinna ortist…". What kind, I'm not sure...


Overall, I'm not unhappy with this. It was intended to be an experiment and I think it merits further exploration. The overall proportions, coloring options and wood combinations are things that can be altered in a million different ways. So… another "series"… the "minimalist series"?

[Jim Underwood]

Oooo.. I know, I know! This is sum kinna ort onna stick! ;) That's a hilarious story David...:p

Amazing work. Looking forward to seeing where you go with this.

[Rob Price]

I don't have the experience or credentials to critique, I'll just comment: very nice piece as usual. I'd proudly display it on my mantle any day. It does take on the appearance of being stretched- it a great curve to it.

[Russell Neyman]

The ration of upper section to lower appears to be Golden Ratio; is that intentional? or just intuiative?

[John Keeton]

Russell, knowing David as I do, I am betting both!;) After all, the man did 15 drawings before starting this one!:D He makes me look like a type B personality, and we all know that ain't so!:rolleyes:

[David DeCristoforo]

You guys are giving me a big head making such a fuss over this! But my wife has always maintained that my head was too small anyway (or maybe she was taking about my brain... and lay off the obvious quip I have set myself up for, hey?)

Truthfully, I was surprised by all the attention this received and doubly surprised to see it on the WoW cover yesterday. Must have been another slow day over there. But thanx again for all the comments, complements and suggestions. I will be making some more pieces based on the "one line" form and I have a few ideas to try out. Someone pointed me to Rude Osolnik's classic candlesticks and they are truly the epitome of this simple form concept.

[Rick Markham]

David, This is a super piece. I agree with a lot of the suggestions. I would be interested to see what John mentioned about moving the point up in the stem, i think it will make the transition "more delicate" in appearance as well.

I can relate with you're perception being warped while it is in the horizontal position. One of the ways I check my forms is to use a "different perspective" from what I have when I'm working. I take a pic with my iPhone with just the base of the chuck at the bottom of the photo, I then rotate the picture so it is vertical, obviously you could just use a point and shoot camera. Not only will it give you a realistic view of the piece, but it helps me "step back" and see the actual line of the piece, without having to crank my neck, or remove the piece from the chuck. I'll catch all kinds of things I might not ordinarily notice.

[Mike Cruz]

David, you've had plenty of suggestions on how you might tweak this form. I can't give you any like that. However, may I suggest that after you do 3 or 4 variations, you post them all in one pic, side by side, to give a perspective to all of us that are still learning form? It still just may come down to personal preference. But with the base being shorter, the top being longer, the thinnest spot being moved...all these things may not be that apparent to the untrained eye. But next to one another, we might be able to "see" it.

[jwjerry w kowalski]

David, although this is an extremely hard piece to turn with the constant curve, in my opinion it is not as attractive as your other work, all of your work is exceptional and I still like this, but not as much as your other work.

[David DeCristoforo]

"I take a pic...then rotate the picture so it is vertical..."

I do that too. This would have been so easy to remove from the collet chuck and stand upright. I had fully intended to do that but I got sidetracked and did not get back to it for a couple of days. Then I just jumped in and parted it off. I could presume that I would have reduced the base diameter and maybe altered the curve into the base a bit. But maybe not. This was almost a dead match for my drawn line so I might not have altered it at all.

"...may I suggest that after you do 3 or 4 variations, you post them all in one pic..."

Sure. Feel free to suggest that. I will do so for sure but it might be a while before I have that many!

"... in my opinion it is not as attractive as your other work..."

This started out to be a simple experiment. Just to see if I could do it and also to see how it would work as an object. Now that I have some ideas for some variations, I will pursue this for a bit. For some reason, I am currently fascinated by the simplicity of this kind of form.

[Russell Neyman]

David, tough crowd, eh? I really like it, and I'm betting you do too. There's not a one of us, including you, who wouldn't change a thing or two to make it better, but this delicate stem piece is wonderfully graceful. As artisans, I think we're best served if we strive for our own tastes, hoping that the audience will somehow follow the creative path we followed to achieve the finished piece. Yes, there are times when we don't like our own work, but this is a process, not a result. Congratulations on another excellent piece of fine art.

[David DeCristoforo]

"...tough crowd, eh..."

Yep. They be a rough bunch alright! But I'm sure that's just how they are here. When they are at home I'll bet it's a whole different story!

[Bill Wyko]

I always look forward to your pieces David. This is no exception. Congrats on the WOW cover too.

[Rick Markham]

Yes congrats on the WOW cover! The base is always deceptive to me. With all that drawing you did, I would have left it the way I designed it too. I'm interested to see the evolution of this idea too, I think they will go well with your stemmed amphora series. It reminds me of a champagne flute, it looks full too!

[Steven Green]

This is my first comment and I've been thinking about it for hours. I have not the ability or the experience to turn a wonderful piece like that. Having said all that my thought is what if the transition between the burl and the stem were thinner? For me I think that might make the base fit the form better without any changes to the rest of the base which I like. Actually I like the whole thing and would be pleased if you sent it to the house so I could look at it more closely.

[David DeCristoforo]

Thanx for all the additional comments. Much food for thought. It is appreciated.

[Kathy Marshall]

Very nice David! The "one line" curve flows beautifully and I know the simplest curves are often the most difficult to achieve. I like the color combo (give some blackwood a try sometime, it's expensive but boy it turns nice!), but I agree that the base appears a little to big, for me at least it draws my attention down when I want to admire the "cup". Can't wait to see the next one.