My turning club has been invited to do another demonstration, which will be held next month. I’ve learned that when we go to these kinds of things, the people who visit us want to see two things. First, they want to see chips flying! I’ve been turning long enough that the sight of wood being removed has long any kind of magic, but for those who haven’t been around turning much, they seem to get a real kick out of seeing the shape slowly take shape and marvel at just what a mess the whole process makes. Second, they want to see completed projects. It doesn’t seem to matter what the project is, just as long as there is a variety of things to see.
That second requirement got me thinking. There are many in the club who seem to make a lot of “brown and round”. Technically, many of these pieces are exceptionally well done! All the boxes are checked: very consistent wall thickness, sanded to the nth degree, and an impeccable finish applied. With an interesting piece of wood, these pieces can be very appealing. I tend to shy away from bringing these projects when taking pieces to a demo. To me, there’s a benefit to bringing items that have more embellishments, different shapes, and different materials, thinking the wider the variety, the more appealing the demo will be.
Since we’ll be in the middle of a maple forest in the middle of September, I thought I’d do something autumn themed. I found two bowls that I had turned, but hadn’t put any finish on them, thinking they were too plain and “would need something added at some point down the road”. Well, it looks like we’re down the road.
The first one was supposed to be a practice piece, since this was the first time I’d attempted blending india inks, but it worked MUCH better than I’d expected. The burning on this one took about 10 hours, most of which was spent putting in all the background texture.
When I got done with the first one, I have to admit that my fingers were pretty sore from the heat coming off the wood burner, so I decided NOT to do the extensive texturing on the second one. Instead, I thought I’d try to make it look like the leaves were overlapping each other. I also threw away the template I had used on the first one and just did all the burning free-hand. This one turned out MUCH better than the first one.
When you put the two of them side by side, I think I’ve done a fairly good job with the colors, but to be honest, the second one is much better than the first. Guess that’s to be expected. I’ve already got the next one in my head, but for that one there needs to be texture carved into the leaves before the burning and the coloring.
The fall demo has “suggested” that we offer pieces for sale and I was thinking of putting a price on these. When I asked a daughter what price she would suggest, there was an icy state and the answer of “dibs”. Not sure that was the answer I was hoping for…