Box Elder HF

[Eric Holmquist]

Box Elder Burl Hollow Form. Another in my series of experiments with the Chris Pytlik dye technique. Quite a bit of movement around the bark inclusion after turning. Around 6" (15cm) tall. Finished with EM6000 waterborne lacquer. Chris does not like Box Elder Burl due to the bark inclusions, but I like the interesting effect they add to the piece, even if they distort the perfection of the surface.

231045

[Jim Burr]

I have two words for you..Oh Yeah!!!! Are you sure that's dyed and not cast? I'd like to see a bit more relief at the base...and that is a minor tick on a major piece!! Beautiful!

[Bill Hensley]

Yep, it works for me. I really like the separation of colors and the bark inclusion.

[Michelle Rich]

very bright colors..they catch the eye

[Roger Chandler]

Pretty spiffy form there Eric...........of course the dye make it a standout. Reminds me of a patchwork quilt.......neat!

[John Keeton]

Now, that is an eye-opener!! Glad I was on my second cup of coffee. Very bright and cheerful colors, Eric. While I am not a huge fan of this type of work, you sure did a nice job with it. I do agree on a bit smaller base, though I do not care for the current fad of "tucking" into an extremely small base to the point of a piece that looks tipsy.

[Eric Holmquist]

Thanks everyone.

I had not appreciated until recently when I made my first hollow form how hard it is to get the proportions of the base right. My bowl forms typically have a curved bottom with a very short or no foot, so a design in this orientation is a real learning experience for me. I will continue to explore this orientation and adjust my proportions before trying the side grain orientation designs.

I am having fun with this dye technique, but as an engineer by profession, the random nature of it hurts my left brain personality. I will do a few more of these, but want to go back to exploring what I can do with piercing on hollow forms.

[allen thunem]

can you expand on this pytlik technique? or pass on where to read about it?

[Eric Holmquist]

can you expand on this pytlik technique? or pass on where to read about it?

I saw a demo by Chris Pytlik at Totally Turning. The basic concept is to use spirit dyes, preferably metal complex dyes like Transtint with an acetone carrier rather than water or alcohol. Use two colors, starting with the darker one on the inside of the piece. Using a syringe, squirt dye on the inside in a few strategic spots and let it bleed through to the outside. Next, using a pipette, squirt the light dye on the outside taking care to preserve some portions of the dark patches and over-running some portions. The over-run spots will combine and run.

So for this piece I used blue on the inside and yellow on the outside. I made sure I left some blue spots clean while letting the yellow run over others. Where the yellow ran over blue, they blended to green and ran down a bit, bluring the edge where the blue came through.

Chris goes into much more detail on the process of dyeing and finishing along with the wood selection and surface prep. If you get a chance to see him, he gives a great demo.