Warped and Wormy

No, I'm not talking about myself...it's the hollow form. This is a piece of madrone burl that I tried an experiment on. Previous madrone pieces I've turned moved quite a bit during the drying stage, so I was leaving them thick with the intent to have plenty of wood to work with after drying. Thing is, when the wood was thick, it tended to crack a lot. (Not necessarily a bad thing, though.) For this one, I decided to turn it to finished size and sand it down to 600 grit in a single session, hoping the cracking would be reduced. Indeed, after drying this one has minimal cracking, but it warped like crazy. (Also not necessarily a bad thing either.) My only regret is that I didn't take any "before" pictures to show what it looked like when I started.

This piece ended up about 4 1/4" wide by 3 3/4" tall. After drying, I sanded very lightly with 600 grit, then gave it multiple coats of Formby's Tung Oil blend. I finished it off with a light spraying of rattle-can lacquer to even out the sheen. The surface texture feels like leather...it's a very tactile piece.

I expect people will either really like it or really dislike it, but I figure it will be a conversation starter any way you look at it. My MIL says she feels sorry for it...huggably ugly.

I uploaded a bunch of pics, since I could. Let me know which one(s) you think are the best. All comments and opinions are encouraged...thanks for looking.

It has a real "Pottery" look to it Vaughn, for sure some with love it, while others hate it, nothing wrong with that at all.

Certainly an "Ice Breaker" for conversations!

I like it!

Vaughn that is a cool looking piece. I like it.

Yeppers, I reacted. Dunno if the reaction was a like or don't like one. But, enneybody can turn round. Nice and round, would sell at a craft show for about $30.00. Call this art, put in a gallery and price at $300.00.

After viewing this, I went to my penturning forum and found some really neat work by an Australian e-friend in the 'other things we turn' thread. And I noted his signature line. Seems appropriate to post here:
"You don't make mistakes in wood turning, you just create design opportunities."

Vaughn....there is a turner in Oregon who specializes in turning madrone burl. He specializes in madrone burl. He roughs it out...boils it for 1 hour per inch and then finish turns.


I like your project. Excellent conversation piece. You'll have to explain to folks how difficult it was to synchronize your oscillating your bown gouge and more importantly your captured hollowing tool in and out to keep the undulating form.....

I like it Vaughn!

Has a nice fossilized look to it... Nice.

Vaughan I like the way it warped I have several regular bowls that have warped and are great conversation pieces(how did you do that?).I really like the shape and graining .
Ken

Well I am in the "I Like It Camp" One of these days I hope to be able to turn things like that. It does look more like art than anything utilitarian. Keep up the good work.

I first saw this on the cover of WOW. Congratulations, you've become a regular on that cover page.

I'm most definitely in the "I like it" camp. This one looks like it would be interesting to hold and turn over in your hands looking for all the "defects" that make it look so good. This would have been a beautiful HF, all nice and round with a nice glossy finish. But it has much more character in its warped and twisted form.

Thanks for the comments and compliments, all. This one has gotten mostly positive reviews on other sites, but as I expected, some folks just don't like it. It won't hurt my feelings if folks say they hate it. I know that "art" is very subjective, but I'm just trying to get a feel for peoples' reactions to it to see if I want to pursue doing more like this.

I'd much rather have people say they think it's ugly than to say nothing at all. It still elicits a reaction, and that's one aspect of art.

Curt Fuller said:

...But it has much more character in its warped and twisted form.

Click to expand...

Sorta like me, huh?

Vaughn McMillan said:

Sorta like me, huh?

Click to expand...

Somewhere a while back I read something about how you used to light your hands on fire before performing in your band. Something about that and a few other eccentricities have made me hope to meet you someday.

Not to hijack your thread, but woodturning as art projects a lot about the person that creates it. Allowing a little or even a lot or your own personality to come through in your work rather than trying to emulate other peoples work is what sets it apart and creates you own style. Sorry, just a little rambling.