"Mosaic"

[John Keeton]

In my quest to conquer the leaf patination concept, I turned to finish this vase from a large piece of very plain big leaf maple that was still wet. Amazingly, it didn't move any that I could tell. The mouth of the vase spun true through the end of the task. It is 5" wide x 7.5" tall, airbrushed with lemon yellow from the bottom, carmine red and bright red from the top, with black over sprayed, followed by black lacquer. The leaf is copper.

Kind of a plain vase form, I think, but it was really done as another attempt at the leaf application. Finish is General WTF.

As always, your comments are welcome.

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[Mike Cruz]

What can I say, John...?

[Marty Eargle]

Amazing looking piece, sir! The patina is great, but the finish makes the piece. I can not wait to get some free time from work so I can make my way to Woodcraft and pick up some WTF.

If I had to have a nitpick about this piece, it would be that the bead work and patina are kind of unbalanced with the simplicity of the rest of the piece. Not sure if that makes sense...still looks great!

[Harvey Ghesser]

Hi John,

The form is spot on. My only desire here would be to have the patination lower, which would show a better contrast between the collar and the surrounding area. It is a beautiful piece.

[Paul Williams]

Beautiful color and great form. The copper looks good, but I really think the color and form set this piece apart.

[Roger Chandler]

Picking up on Harvey's comment............wonder what a band around the shoulder area might look like with the patination there and a fade from the red to the black at just about where the opening is? That is a fine form John, and you have blended the bead in such a way as it does not interrupt the flow of the curve..............good stuff, counselor!

[Rick Markham]

John, this one is Awesome, from the color, shape, to the patina on the leaf. I really like the design of the leaf, and the beaded top portion really fits the shape of the form. Spectacular job on the airbrushing too. Did your airbrush the dye dissolved in water, or alcohol?

[David DeCristoforo]

Nice move, John. Lull us with a nice but not spectactualar piece (the urn) and then pop this on us!

The finishes you are producing with the new material are like glass. With the subdued figure, this piece might as well be glass . It would be hard to tell if you did not know up front that it is wood.

I agree with Harvey in that I would like to see the lower bead dropped about an inch, more or less, to allow the leaf to play a bigger role. But that is a personal pref and either way, there is no arguing with this one.

[Jon Nuckles]

Really like the form, but the finish is the star to me. It does look like glass, and the dye job makes it look like it is lit from within. Nice, nice, nice!

[Scott Hackler]

Home run on this one John. The beading does a very nice job at separating the patina and the rest of the vessel. I also like the dark fade into the patina area. The thing that really stands out on this one (for me) is the continuous curve from the vessel sides ...over the patina area. I like this one as is. Nice work.

[Alan Trout]

John,

I think the leafing turned out much better on this one. I really like the fade. I really like the form. Not sure I like the bead. I will have to think on it for a while. But for sure better.

Alan

[Bernie Weishapl]

John that is beautiful. Love the form, color and the patina. I like how the beads provides seperation.

[Bob Bergstrom]

Love what you have brought together to make a beautiful piece from a rather plain blank of maple. The use of black to highlight the copper leaf is a real feature. Love the fade and form. Thanks for sharing.

[Baxter Smith]

The patination is your best yet IMO John and the form is nice. The rest I will have to contemplate on for a while.:)

[Curt Fuller]

John, first I want to say that this is just absolutely beautiful. And take this comment for what it' worth, a hayseed truckdriver's opinion. This kind of work always puzzles me as to why you would go to such great lengths to make wood look like something other than wood. I'm sure if I were to hold this in my hands I would be able to see the wood grain, feel the weight (or lack of weight) of it being wood. But my first impression was that it looks like blown glass. Like I said, it's beautiful, but I just have a hang up with covering everything 'woody' about the wood.

[Dave Mueller]

John, I really like this leaf style a lot more than what was on "Blue on Blue". The more complete coverage with black separations looks like sgraffito. Did you use sodium sulfite to patinate the copper foil? Also, did the WTF change the colors of the patination much when it was applied?

Great job!

[Kathy Marshall]

Beautiful piece John! The form looks perfect to me and the dye job and finish are fantastic. The bead details look great as does the patinated (is that a word?) leaf.

[Tim Chase]

I'm totally impressed the finish on this piece looks like a custom paint job on a metal surface or like Curt said glass. The fade from one color to the other is extremely good rivaling an airbrush likely not so easy to do.

[John Keeton]

John, I really like this leaf style a lot more than what was on "Blue on Blue". The more complete coverage with black separations looks like sgraffito. Did you use sodium sulfite to patinate the copper foil? Also, did the WTF change the colors of the patination much when it was applied?

Great job!Dave, I used sodium sulfide and barium sulfide on the leaf, and sealed it with spray shellac prior to application of the WTF. I doubt the WTF would remove the patina, but this wasn't the time to try that! I need to see what happens on a test piece.


...I just have a hang up with covering everything 'woody' about the wood.Curt, I do understand this and agree, in part. This piece of BLM was absolutely plain Jane. It had virtually no color variation and no figure. That is probably why it lost the wood look so easily with the dye and other applications. I promise I won't adulterate every piece of wood I touch!:D


I'm totally impressed the finish on this piece looks like a custom paint job on a metal surface or like Curt said glass. The fade from one color to the other is extremely good rivaling an airbrush likely not so easy to do.Tim, the dye was applied with an air brush.

Rick M., I used Transtint for the lemon yellow and bright red - both dissolved in DNA. The carmine red was Procion dye, and was dissolved in water.

[Bob Rotche]

Amazing piece, John! The color and finish are just stunning and I think the leafing is your best yet. Sort of agree with those that suggested bringing the leaf a bit lower on the form. Not sure it would be better but would be interesting to compare.

[charlie knighton]

very nice, like the form and the copper, piece is more scupture than woodturning with that finish, well done

[Steve Schlumpf]

John - first thing I noticed was the form! Very well done! Next thing is the color - it really pops out at you! Next is the leaf patination - and I think this time that it all came together and created an almost jewel-like surface! Very nice! I am usually not a big fan of beads because they break the flow of the curve but in this case - they work! I like how the beads are almost flattened and while providing a border - do not break the external curve of the vase!

Very nice work John!

[Todd Bin]

John,

Nice piece. You are making progress on the patination process. This one looks nicer than the last. One tip on the sodium sulfide. You need to to remove the chemical from the surface before you get to the color you are looking for. It is kind of a guessing game but if you know you get the color you are looking for in 13 sec. then you should take the chemical off at about 10 sec. It will continue to 'burn in' after that. You probably already know all of this but just thought I would throw it out there.

~Todd

[Dave Mueller]

Just a correction on my prior post. I was incorrect in calling the patination chemical "sodium sulfite". It is "sodium sulfide" or Na2S as John correctly stated. Just wanted to clarify that in case someone ordered the chemical to try patination.

[Michelle Rich]

I've looked at this a few times today and I still can't think of what to say..the colors vibrant..the copper leaf is very neat..but maybe it's my monitor, but the color of the bowl is orange, so the copper clashes horribly. I'm going to assume that my monitor is at fault..gorgeous shape ..love the copper (which looks like brass here!)

[Dale Miner]

John,

This treatment would work very well on creamation urns. Elegant, but not overly dressy.

[Prashun Patel]

You should make a book.
This piece is (yawn), like all yr pieces, stunning.
I aspire to that color and that curve.

[Sid Matheny]

This one is eye candy from top to bottom! Enough said.

Sid

[Roland Martin]

This is an absolutely gorgeous work of ART, John. Don't know what else to say but WOW!!!

[francesco dibari]

In my quest to conquer the leaf patination concept, I turned to finish this vase from a large piece of very plain big leaf maple that was still wet. Amazingly, it didn't move any that I could tell. The mouth of the vase spun true through the end of the task. It is 5" wide x 7.5" tall, airbrushed with lemon yellow from the bottom, carmine red and bright red from the top, with black over sprayed, followed by black lacquer. The leaf is copper.

Kind of a plain vase form, I think, but it was really done as another attempt at the leaf application. Finish is General WTF.

As always, your comments are welcome.

233583 233582

wonderful ... John appears on its own light ... :) .. I want to sell my lathe ... :( ...

[John Keeton]

You folks are just way too kind!:o

[Pete Jordan]

I love the way the colors blend!

Amazing!

[Bill Hensley]

John you continue to raise the bar and I thank you. It keeps the challenge interesting!

[Tim Rinehart]

John, I love the colors in this and how they blend up towards the patina'd area. The patina worked out much better on this piece with a better coverage and less free area. This had to be painstaking...or you figured a few tricks along the way to get them so evenly applied/spaced.
Alot of folks have commented about the bead transition, and I'm kinda stuck on what I would do differently, if at all. May be the beading creates a few too many transition points...I may have to think about this a bit more. Perhaps just a black band above/below the patina area would have sufficed and prevented the bead from becoming a possible distraction to the eye.
As said, your finish is beyond reproach, and sets your pieces apart from the crowd. Well done as usual!

[John Keeton]

Tim, while I really enjoy seeing the "clean" vase forms that are posted, when it comes my time to do one, I feel this overwhelming urge to create beads and embellishments!!:o It is nearly uncontrollable, and I am beginning to think perhaps my gouges are possessed!:eek::confused: Strange phenomena in that I am the ultimate unembellished individual - don't wear any rings or jewelry (except my trusted WalMart watch!), wardrobe consists of jeans and henleys, and I abhore other "fancy" stuff. Hermit or recluse would be good words to describe me.

Perhaps the need to release the pent up desire to "embellish" rears its ugly head when I turn on the lathe?!?!? I should look into buying some fancy blue jeans - maybe that will permit me to keep my turnings a bit more unadorned.

[Ted Evans]

JK, may I offer a suggestion for your dilemma that will resolve all of the issues, keep the simple jeans and henleys but trade that rock guitar for one with a country sound and all will be well with your soul. Who knows, perhaps Dolly will come back!

[Carl Hackman]

Sorry to reply this late in the day but as a noob exploring I've just found this one. I really like this piece and would love to be able to add some patination to my pieces. Chemicals would be a problem for me as they are classed as hazardous cargo which is why I haven't bought the kit from David Marks yet.

If I could find the chemicals here then I'd order some gold, silver and copper leaf and have a go.

Great job John :)

[Tom Winship]

John, all I can say is WOW!

[Peter Blair]

Wow! Just love it. Sure, as others have said, you could have tried additional details but IMO this one is perrrrfect!

[Scott Lux]

I see only one problem with this piece: It's not in my house!!

[John Keeton]

You guys are digging up old stuff here!! Thanks, though, for the additional comments.

[Eric Holmquist]

I love it, great form, the colors look like it is lit from within, and the leafing looks amazing.

[Mel Fulks]

Not unbalanced ,but a tension between the precarious base and the jewel like preciousness of the top .Artistic statement of the fragility of beauty......HEY! I'd make a good wine taster judge guy.

[Josh Bowman]

John,
By my eye, you've outdone yourself! That shape, color and details are over the top. The color alone looks like it's glowing.

[Jamie Donaldson]

It gorgeous John, and the only thing that would make it better would be to turn off some of those extra light fixtures in the reflections!:D

[Rick Markham]

This is spectacular John! Thanks for posting it. I really like the leafing job and the addition of the negative space design

[Donny Lawson]

Stunning piece of work. Excellent job.