A question about embellishments?

[Toney Robertson]

I see a lot of bowls, boxes, etc. pictured here that have been dyed, textured, sculpted etc.. Most are quite lovely and the following is NOT aimed at any one person. NO disrespect to anyone intended.

Many times when standing at the lathe with a beautiful piece of wood in front of me I think about putting a bead here or texture this or brass inlay there. Eventually I talk myself out of anything because I don't want to spoil the natural beauty of the wood. I find it hard to modify Mother Nature's work.

Since I have not been turning bowls long, is there a natural design progression that occurs as you turn more pieces?

Do you ever think that some of the embellishments are done merely because we can do it?

Right now I have turned a couple of mahogany pieces and with the bland grain I think I can bring myself to add some thing to spice it up.

Am I the only one to have this mental fight with myself?

TIA

Toney

[curtis rosche]

nope, i do it too, except that i try to keep as much as possible as far as the grain patterns go, you can leave some plain, but get some bland plain wood and make a few plain ones, then just look at them and imagine what they could be. eventualy you will start to do more and more. or you could just but plain wood and do segmentation like malcolm tibbets or ray allen, and not have to think about mothers natures work because you painting the colors of wood

[Jim Becker]

Toney, there are some pieces of wood that "demand" to be left "nude". There are others that can be very supportive of any number of artistic embellishments. It's really up to the individual turner/artist to find the mix that is right for them as well as to create a look that is readily identifiable as theirs, either through unique forms or for what they do with the forms they create.

Some turners specialize in work that is not readily identifiable as being made of wood, despite the fact that it is. Jack Vessery is a good example. His work is largely turned and carved from plain old cherry, but after he does his carving and texturing largely with pyrography, he layers and dry brushes on many, many applications of acrylic colors and other finishing materials to complete the look. We know him for his signature "feather" textures.

Molly Winton does a lot of vessels that feature wonderful pyrography. Pam Reilly's boxes have a signature look, whether they are left as natural wood or embellished with her familiar "crossword puzzle" Pismacolor motifs. Andi Wolf, who is a biologist, does pieces that bring us back to nature, either with her leaf forms or in other ways. David Ellsworth, one of the folks who really made hollowforms happen, has some identifiable forms that you know are his, but greatly exhibit the wonderful wood they are made from. In his case, the shape/form is "his" but the wood is totally of Mother Nature for the pieces I'm thinking of. His ebonized ash and oak pieces that are pure of form, but colored and textured with fire accentuate the grain of the wood, but bring it to you in a monochromatic way.

There is absolutely beauty in a simple bowl, however, that is just the wood from which it is made...

BTW, that mahogany is wonderful for carving...perhaps you can find a way to spice up your pieces and make them your own.

[Curt Fuller]

My bowls are pretty notorious for their heft. Drop one and it'll likely break your toe. But the nice thing about that is that you can play around with different embellishments, beads, bands, textures, and if you don't like it or if it takes away from the beauty of the wood, you just turn it away. And you still have 1/2" or so of wood left to hold it down in a wind storm. But I'm like you, it either has to be some really creative embellishing or else some very bland wood to make it look better than the way Mother Nature designed it.

Also, to me at least, the thing that makes a turned wooden bowl approach "art" status is the ability of the turner to find, orient, and turn the wood in a way that brings out the natural beauty of the wood. If I were more interested in embellishing the bowl I would choose a medium like clay.

[Toney Robertson]

Jim,

"there are some pieces of wood that "demand" to be left "nude"". I guess that is where the problem is, determining which pieces are the "nudes" and which need some clothes.

So far, I have done spalted maple, padauk, walnut, oak, canary wood, coral wood, cherry and mahogany. Out of all those species only the mahogany and maybe the cherry were "plain" enough for me even to contemplate doing any embellishments.

Maybe with more experience....

Toney

[Steve Schlumpf]

Toney - you are not alone!

For a while I thought about trying different things to enhance my turnings just so they would be different than everyone else's. I agree with you - and a lot of others - that most of the time the natural beauty of the wood is perfect as is - if turned correctly and any enhancement would only diminish that beauty. So, for me, I have turned my attention to form and learning to read the wood - in the hopes that my turnings will bring out the total natural beauty of the piece - without any embellishments.

I did dye one of my hollow forms as an experiment a while back and ended up sanding away the bulk of the color. Was pretty but I have to be able to see the grain! If I can't see the wood - then it's like Curt said - I might as well be using clay.

[Matt Hutchinson]

Right now I have roughed out enough bowls made of plain grain wood that I have started to leave the rims a little thicker. (This gives me the flexibility to do more with it later.) I am getting bored with uneventful grain and predictable forms. Granted, most all forms are rather predictable, but I need my eye to see something more than a beautiful simple form.

I am not sure to where this will lead, but at this point I have a hunger for uniqueness. Wood is beautiful, but as soon as I make something good, I always need something more...the next phase. I am driven to take my creativity to the next level. I am not satisfied with people saying "That's beautiful." I want professionals and other artists to see what I make and feel that it's significant. When I complete a piece, I want to know that it's significant.

Now, whether this will ever happen is irrelevant. I just need to operate with this goal in mind, and my work will take me where it will.

If you allow your mind to explore it's creative capacity, you may find yourself falling down a rabbit hole, one that takes you to places you never thought existed. What was once satisfying may become the starting point for the revelation of your personal artistry, wood-turning creative works that no one else has produced.

Um,

Hutch

[Richard Madison]

So there ya go, Toney. If it is beautiful wood and it ain't broke, perhaps best not to fix it. If it is bland wood but you have turned a beautiful form that speaks for itself, maybe still best not to fix it.

If it is bland wood and you have done three others that look just like it, then it just might be time to experiment a bit. You may have some artistic ability that you did not know about, and this is an opportunity to find it. When conditions are right, give it a try. We learn by trying.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Toney I have to agree with the others. Most time if the wood is some awesome grained wood or has some character about it I just leave it alone and let the beauty of the wood speak for itself. I have some ash that is just plain bland. The bowls come out nice but they just don't do anything for me. I just got a airbrush outfit that I am going to try and learn how to airbrush dye on it. At the symposium in Richmond Binh Pho is going to demo these airbrushing techniques and it is one I am going to attend. I have seen some pretty bland wood otherwise did with a airbrush using paint or dye that are just beautiful plus still leave the grain come thru. To me it is the same as turning a form on wood. Some forms I like and some I don't. I think it is up to the individual and his vision.

[Jon Lanier]

Just a noticed a statement. You said, "I find it hard to modify Mother Nature's work." Well, by cutting it up, putting it on a lathe and by turning it, you've modified Mother Nature's work.

But I think that is why it is there.

[Raymond Overman]

Toney,

I haven't read all the other comments but I'll weigh in on the topic. If this is a repeat of something someone else has said, sorry.

When I start turning a piece of wood I know what I want out of it. I know if I want to embellish it or not. I know whether I want to put a bead or texture or burn a line in it. When I get to the point where it's time to do the embellishing, I do it. I don't let the wood talk to me during the process. I if it does I put my fingers in my ears and go LALALALA and seek treatment because when wood starts to talk, you've probably inhaled too much lacquer or something. To me the wood is either an artistic medium or a craft medium (I'm not getting into that religious argument) that is there for you to work, not the other way around.

With the beading, the burning, the texturing and coloring you aren't doing anything more than what you did with the gouge. You're making it into what you want it to be. If what you want it to be is a natural woodgrain piece then that's OK too.

[Glenn Hodges]

Looking at a bowl with beautiful wood I will leave it alone, and let the beauty carry it. Sometimes I get bored with a boring piece of wood and spice it up with an inlay, burning, etc. I also have a desire to make my pieces different that the work of others (don't we all?).

[Mike Vickery]

I think everyone goes in different directions with their turning. I know I had trouble at first with the embelishments. It starts inoccently enough with a couple burn lines for decoration and snowball's from their. You start embellishing plain wood and before you know it the bowls start not looking right with out a little something extra.

You mentioned that you are fairly new to turning. Once you have a couple hundred bowl under your belt you may change your mind.

[Tom Keen]

Great topic...

Someone said it previously, but I like to know before I start what I want to accomplish..form, rim, details etc. I keep going for that ideA until the wood convinces me that it aint going to happen.

Embelishment implies that you are trying to "enhance" the basic product. If you can do that in a way that everything is better after emblishment go for it...if not, think a bit more about what you are trying to accomplish and go another way.

[keith zimmerman]

Since I have not been turning bowls long, is there a natural design progression that occurs as you turn more pieces?

You're not alone Toney. I've been turning about 6 years now and have found that I have become really bored with turning bowls in the traditional manner. I find that they just don't satisfy me any longer and I want more than that in my turnings. As a result, I've been pushing myself further and further away from the classic bowl form. I have been trying to challenge myself with lidded hollow forms, bowls that aren't necessarily round, off-center bowls, boxes of various forms, and even turnings that are round, but not necessarily hollow. I have also been investigating dyeing, texturing, and carving, among other techniques.

Maybe this will help satisfy my insatiable appetite to create something that hasn't been done, maybe not. For sure, it will help me take the next step.

keithz

[Reed Gray]

I have been turning for 10 years now. I experimented with footed bowls, beads and coves, and burnt lines. I just keep coming back to the plain clean sweep curves of a bowl. It is the form to me, and I like it simple. Anything that breaks up those lines just doesn't do it for me. I also build Shaker style furniture, plain simple lines. Anything else just gets in the way and distracts from the over all picture. I do turn green to final thickness, and let them warp. The first few times people would look at them, they would say, 'that shape is 'SO ORGANIC'. At first, I was kind of "What???". Now I just say, 'I could never imagine that form, I just let it do it by itself.
robust hippy

[Geoff Hanha]

Mother Nature's work,, mmmm We rip her from the ground turn her into all sorts of things and burn her.
We progress with being a turner/artist and im not going to get into the argument of what is art and whats not. But being a turner is a name of the thing we do, being an artist is what we are good bad or fantasticly great its what you see and feel, you stick a suit on and a tie you pic the colour of the shirt. If you fancy putting lines paint brass or burn some part or all of the turning then thats for you to work out and if you like it you have acuired what you set out to do, if others like it then you are starting to win, it has nothing to do with spoiling the beauty of the wood, and if you put it on the lathe you have already interfered with mother nature.
I also fined the word inharnsing the wrong work it implies that you need to cover something up that is not very good. You should be creating something of beauty. If you have plastic surgery for no other reason than to make your apearance look better than it was then you are enharncing or embelashing, not creating..my moan over:p:D Geoff

[Toney Robertson]

I appreciate everyone's input. I guess I need to get straight in my mind what I want and where I want to go with turning.

My guess is that I will need to start with embellishments because I would like to sell some of my stuff and it seems pretty evident that the artsy stuff is what sells for the most.

Tough for me to change, too much like my Dad. :D

Toney