Three Looks For One Form.

Pine Lidded Form

Sandblasted Pine Lidded Form

   I occasionally get comments on my work from people on various forums 'disapproving' of added textures and colours. I of course respect the fact that for them wood should look like well..wood!
  For me these decorative processes are what appeal to my creative side, don't get me wrong, I too love the look of natural wood and wouldn't dream of adding colours and textures all over a piece of beautifully figured timber (well maybe just a slight accent band.....lol).
 However, I usually work with quite bland timbers that I can have more control over the final appearance of.
 The whole process of taking what is essentially a 'lump' of wood turning it to a pleasing form and altering it to fit my own vision is what feeds my creative needs. I very much enjoy the transformation at the various stages in producing my work.
  What for me is the first stage in producing a piece, that is the turned form (pic above) is for many others the finished object and that is great. I cannot disagree that a simple pleasing to the eye, well finished form is a 'winner' every time and perhaps quite rightly a majority of turners feel this way.
 Others myself included can't help but think 'what if' and run with our imaginations, changing the appearance and therefore hopefully the 'feel' of the woodturned items we make.

Sandblasted Coloured Lidded Pine Form

 The highly decorated pieces may not appear at first glance just like wood but believe me those that make them love wood and working with it just as much as anybody else. Its a big world out there with enough room for all tastes. Just my thoughts on this subject :).....
 Anyway I hope you enjoy the pictures of the stages from simple form, to textured form to finished piece. This one by the way is the first of another set of three of the pine forms that are part of my 'Colour Series'.

Wooden Signs.

 I'm starting to produce some wooden signs as I already have all the equipment needed and I think they look cool. Hopefully others will  and I can start to sell these......

Sandblasted Sign

 This one was an experiment to see if I could do them, 'The Sty' is the name my inlaws call their conservatory   as they often lay about in there on a summers day, I will give them this as a gift to put up on it. The letters and border stand proud of the background giving a nice 3D quality.

Colour Series Erosion Group

Sandblasted Pine  Hollow Forms

Well this morning the colour scheme on the last post just didn't look right to me when viewed with fresh eyes in natural daylight...... The white had to go. A quick re colour later and I was much happier with the result.
 As I had a whole day clear I decided to press on and get the other two of the trio done, the picture here is the result. The centre one is the original from yesterday recoloured and finished.

Colour Series 'Erosion'

'Erosion' Form
 

Here is the first piece that will be an offshoot of my 'Colour Series' pieces a  'Mini-Series' if you like...... I was going to wait to post these until I had a set of three but I liked the eroded effect so much I just wanted to share it!!
 Believe it or not this is a piece of pine, its a bit weird to turn as you can feel the hard-soft-hard nature of the grain through the gouge but it sure smells nice! I've heard it said that it is impossible to get a good finish on pine but I must say with a sharp tool and gentle finishing cuts it doesn't turn out too badly at all.
 Why on earth are you using pine?? I hear you say, well the soft and hard grain makes it a good choice for the sandblaster, as the soft part is easily removed by the blast media to give the deeply eroded look.
  I did have to have a little rummage through the local wood yards shed of dry stuff to find a bit with a decent close grain pattern and not too many knots close to each other so that I could cut my lengths for forms out between the worst ones.
 As its one of my 'Colour Series' I have used the same basic rules I use for colouring those, that being a colour in the grooves, a second colour(well its always black or white) on the higher parts over that and finally a metallic accent.

'Old' Pod

Sandblasted Yew Hollow Form

This one has been a long time in the making, at least a year. I had turned the form originally when I was doing lots of 'pointy ended' forms and just hadn't found the right base to mount it on. It sat on the shelf waiting to be finished, when I came across this piece of bogwood, it was soaked through (had been in an aquarium) and has taken several months to dry out.
 The form has warped a bit, which can be seen in the pic but this doesn't hurt as it's in keeping with the natural 'pod' appearance, I have also added to the natural look by adding a few carved lines mainly near the top and base and giving the whole thing a good going over in the sand blast cabinet to give a nice wrinkled look.

New Year New Beginnings

 Firstly I'd like to wish those reading this blog a very happy 2013. We (my family and myself) had a pretty good 2012 and a really nice Christmas, the children are at that age where it is all so magical (Dylan is 3 and Daisy is nearly 2).

 Also with the final sorting out of a medical condition over the next couple of months that has kept me feeling tired and dopey for several years,the sorting out of which is causing a lovely dizzy sensation,(ah, the joys of uneeded medication from a wrong diagnosis!!...), I'm personally hoping to get more motivation and 'raise my creative game' a bit!!!!
 I am very much hoping and certainly going to try to make more money from turning and general wood  based item production this year and in the future as this is what I love doing so much. This will involve making more non-art things but I will still make sure to make (plenty of) time to pursue my artistic path.

 Anyway, enough of that, you come here to see my work not listen to my whining!! LOL

Sand blasted Oak

Here's the first hollow form of the year, well not strictly, it was turned last year but has been decorated/finished this week and that is the important bit for me!
 Luckily for me Father Christmas brought me a shot blast cabinet (I was clearly a good boy last year!!). I've wanted one pretty much since starting turning as I love the textures created by them on wood as it mimics the way wood on the beach goes and I've loved that look since being a small child.
 This is the first piece textured with it and I'm very happy with the result. The star design is all part of the timber(not stuck on) and has just been dyed black to highlight the open grain so that it continues through from the 'eroded' grain pattern and a dark yellow over that to help the stars 'stand out' without being too brightly coloured.
 I have more ideas along these lines to produce so watch this space........:)

They're Multiplying!!!

Reindeer

 The Mushrooms are selling, and Rudolph was getting a lot of interest so I have made a few more to sell. Its amazing that something that started off last week to use up a bit of branch wood is starting to go well.........