Another finished turning

[Brian Brown]

Here is #2 of 4 that i mentioned in my last thread. The juried show was 3 pieces only, and this is the one that didn't go. Big Leaf Maple burl, and figured walnut. Your critique is welcome. I can always use a critique on the form and proportions, along with everything else. About 8.5" tall, and 5" wide. Finished with walnut oil to pop the wood, and overcoated with lacquer. This was my first hollowing in a piece with voids. I was nervous, but never had even the smallest problem. It is also my smoothest and most consistent hollowing. 1/4 inch with a slight increase at the bottom approx. 3/8for ballast. Let me know what you think.

[John Keeton]

Brian, I always hesitate to do this online - for several reasons. First and foremost, comments I make are simply based on my perception of artistic design and aren't intended as "gospel." So, please understand that anytime you ask for a critique, you are likely to get a variety of responses. Your best advice is to sift through them and pick the ones that seem to meet your own tastes.

Secondly, I just do not want to come across as any sort of authority on these matters. I am sure others may have differing views that hold just as much validity.

Let me begin by saying you have a very well executed piece. Beautiful woods, great color contrast, and aside from one item mentioned below, good elements. I like the inclusion of the form material in the base and the replication - it ties together very well. I like the concept, too.

I have taken the liberty to re-marque your pic with points that I think might be subject to revision should you attempt another of these. Again, these are simply my views. I have also included only what I think are "general" principles of design and what I, or others, might do with this type of form may differ even from what I have stated.

In order from the bottom up -

1. The waist of the pedestal seems just a bit thick for the scale of the piece.
2. The "bulb" is distracting and takes one's eye from the very nice wood used in the form. It isn't needed. An element of embellishment could be used here, but it would need to be considerably smaller and placed at the 2/3 point on the pedestal.
3. The transition into the base of the form seems strained - probably because of the bulb. Without it, you could have had a nice sweep from the very base, through the waist of the pedestal, and into the form.
4. There is a slight bulge, with a resulting loss of curvature.
5. The overall "shoulder" of the piece is heavy - somewhat related to the bulge mentioned above. If you lightened the apex area, you would have been able to have a slight concavity to the upper shelf of the form, providing an upward sweep into the finial base. As it is, the horizontal plan creates a less than smooth transition point into the finial base.
6. I find the top portion of the finial (spire) a bit heavy in appearance and I wonder if the convex nature of the spire is contributing to that. The height of the finial might appear quite differently were it just very slightly concave.

So, for what they are worth, these are my comments. However, you are doing some excellent work and your improvement is remarkable. You should be proud of these and I don't doubt they will jury.

[Brice Rogers]

Brian, that is a beautiful piece. I love it.

[Paul Williams]

Very good execution and a great piece of wood. For my taste I would leave off the bulb in the base and made the finial much thinner. As you know everyone's taste is different and you need to go with your own. It will be interesting to think about the comments if several people take you up on the request for critiques. Critiques used to be a great part of this forum but I believe they are not as common today.

[Mel Fulks]

I find John's comments insightful and especially agree with 6. As one with only the most rudimentary experience with lathes I am in awe of all these hollow forms in difficult woods. I do think there is a lot of similitude in these modern forms and sometimes the break out artist is the one making new rules. I've been reminded of that by TV ads for a show of Rodan
sculpture. Maybe he was a genius ,but I don't like lumpy statues.

[Roger Chandler]

I have deliberately not read any post at this point but your original, so as to not be influenced by anything but your piece as pictured above. I will go back and read after I get done with my comments, Brian.

First off the pedestal is too small at the base, making the entire form look tippy and out of balance. The bulb in the pedestal is a feature not needed in my opinion, as it competes with the form itself. I think if you are going to have a bulb feature where you have it, then a much smaller bead with at least one "V" grove between the bulb and the main form.

The transition from the form to the pedestal needs to be refined as that would be better if you could have joined the pedestal at the base and made both the pedestal and form come together in that curve up to the main form [think of the shape of a trumpet bell] and it could also just have been a nearly flat transition to the pedestal as another option, but I think the flare [trumpet bell shape] would be best.

The color, contrast and workmanship are excellent Brian. I think that probably if you had smaller proportions on your pedestal, you would also have made the proportions on the finial better as well. The finial has some excellent features, but is a bit heavy on the upper portion. Making finials is an art all unto itself, and they always seem to look smaller when they are on the lathe, so I recommend taking them off and holding them on the form to get a better sense of proportion, then remounting on the lathe to refine and finesse the features and the proportions.

I like the lighter color wood on the base. To me the form seems a bit too flat on the top and would benefit from a little higher shoulder, and more of a slope upward towards your finial base, which has a nice transition up to the base of the small form in the finial. That point where the base of the finial meets the smaller form, needs a smaller waist there that equals the diameter of the join at the top where it transitions. This would give you better symmetry.

Overall you have good workmanship and this form has potential. I also think that the sequence might have affected your outcome. I suppose that you made the hollow form first.....is that correct? Finding the sweet spot on proportions on this is more difficult if you did not pre-select the wood and consider the size of the blanks that you could get proportionally correct for the pedestal, and plan the entire work as a whole with a sketch or something before you ever started.

This shows you are certainly on the right path, and with some tweaking and perhaps more up front planning, your next one will probably be all that much better.
Now, I need to go back and see what others have said, and see if I am in the ballpark with my comments! :D;)

[Brian Brown]

Thanks for your comments Roger. They are very helpful. You are right, I did make the hollow form first, and the design I had on paper for the pedestal got changed on the fly because I wasn't liking it in 3d. Not a turning I think I will do often, but I would really like to get a good feel for the form.

[Brian Brown]

Thank you John, Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! This is just the kind of critique I was looking for. Your comments are extremely helpful. I do have a question on point 6. Do you think the convex nature of the spire would work if the finial spire were smaller in diameter? Or is the convex shape just not best for finials?

As far as your comment


I just do not want to come across as any sort of authority on these matters. I am sure others may have differing views that hold just as much validity.

I DO consider you an authority on this type of form, and always look forward to your insights. Thank you again.

[robert baccus]

A very, very nice piece as is. The top may be a bit heavy but the wood and finish are spot on.

[Mel Fulks]

I'd like to take a try at your finial question. Most of the things we are used to seeing with that swell are the columns of buildings, but columns are opposite of your finial in that they have the larger diameter at the bottom, small diameter at top. That swell is probably noticed more when NOT there as our eyes are apt to see a straight cylinder as being a little smaller in the middle. If you look at the current post modern style "columns" which are just cylindrical pipes it is easy to see the lack of that swell we call "entasis". Your piece is viewed full on rather than bottom up, so the entasis is not needed
and therefore it is easy for the brain to see the finial as a little too big around the middle to have a position way up in the air.
And I can easily relate. With concave sides it would probably subliminally be a fountain.