My pivot project, moving from craftsman to artist

[Bob Hodge]

This is the first milestone of a three year project.  I am attempting to go beyond being a craftsman to more of an artist.

There are possibly 16 different woods here, most which were given to me, so they have stories that go with them.  Possibly eight

different finishes.  

Every good artist must have an "artist's statement", I am told.  Mine is that rather than using the wood to demonstrate my

craftsmanship, I use my meager skills to show off the incredible creativity of God.  I get to be the first person to look inside

what he made, and plates and bowls seem to show off the most with the minimum of skills.  

 

I believe my favorite woods are apple because of the cool grain, the large red plate of guapinol (common name of "stinky toes") that a store owner gave me in Costa Rica and I kind of smuggled into the country.  I'm not into resin yet to fill voids. Rather, I use crushed minerals and gems with CA to fill voids, in this case, crushed malachite, pearls and fool's gold.  Epoxy glue ruins the refraction of the minerals.  

 

There are more walls, and so many kinds of woods...

[Gunny]

Outstanding

[HandyDan]

Lots of variety there.  Nice!

[lew]

I'd say you've made it!!

 

Fantastic pieces.

[Steve Krumanaker]

Impressive vision there. Nicely done!

[Woodman]

Thanks for sharing! 

 

Yes, grain can be inspiring. When a lad I acquired a plank of black walnut. Made a box for my gal. Fifteen coats of tongue oil, buffed with rottenstone between each. Depth of grain was amazing.

 

The gal has long ago forgotten me. The box? God only knows. 

[Cal]

Mission accomplished Bob!  Maybe a church or museum?  A great display

[Woodman]

Are all of the plates turned on a lathe? Or some free-carved?

 

The one with inlayed wood, was that more of an issue to turn? Did you spend more time getting an especially sharp edge on your tools for that job?

 

The plain oak [P3, lower large plate] does appeal to me. Love all of them but what is this wood? Mahogany or something more exotic?

 

 

[Grandpadave52]

Excellent work accompanied by a very creative eye. I appreciate them all but one stands out far above the others IMHO.

The large turning, top, left center; I immediately see the in the foreground the base of a large tree rising from deteriorating roots above ground.

To the right in the distant background, I perceive a small tree line whose canopy is partially obscured by the wisp of a cloud line.

I'm no artist nor certainly a qualified art critic, but that platter has the most beautiful grain pattern I believe I've ever seen.

Thanks for sharing...BTW, Happy Birthday yesterday!!

 

[Bob Hodge]

Well, thank you for asking. I truly love these woods. Each has its own characteristics, as you know maybe better than me.

The large turning on top is apple. I had not noticed until you mentioned it that it does seem like a large tree rising from deteriorating roots above ground.  I will never see that again without thinking that.  I had several pieces of apple from a friend's apple tree with a 30 inch diameter base. I was only limited by the swing of my lathe which is about to change.

The large reddish one on the bottom is guapinol.  I was in Costa Rica at an artist's village and found their junk pile behind the shelves of nice work. I noted it and went to the sales counter to see how I might buy it from their junk pile.  They went with me to see it because it lacked a price tag.  They didn't know how to sell it to me because it was not a finished piece. Ultimately the owner came out to see what the problem was. He took off to the junk pile; I pointed out the piece and asked how much it might cost. He took off to the sales counter without answering me and started wrapping it up.  I thought it was going to really cost me.  Eventually, he gave it to me and when I asked how much, he just said "Welcome to Costa Rica". Wrapped up, I could get that piece of raw wood across the border; unwrapped it could have been an issue.  Well, he had to spell the wood out for me.  As I started writing " w, a, p,,  he took my pen and wrote on my arm guapinol.  I asked him if it had a common name. "Yes, stinky toes, and you will understand when you work it."  He was correct. 

 

All done on my mini lathe with a twelve inch swing.  I rough out with carbide tools but use my HSS for the best finish.  I don't know how long the experts need to sand, but I sand a lot as the finish seems to be a signature characteristic of my work.  

 

Thanks for asking.  Most pieces have a story that go with them as most pieces were gifts like from somebody's aunt Martha's tree, backyard swing, tornado-downed tree that hit the house... 

[Grandpadave52]

Thanks Bob for the stories behind some of your work. Those provide additional character to each piece. Very interesting and enjoyable. I appreciate you taking time to not only share your creativity but alsoxcoming back with the stories. 

[Woodman]

11 hours ago, Bob Hodge said:

HSS

I had to look it up 

 

Combining molybdenum, tungsten and chromium steel creates several alloys commonly called "HSS", measuring 63–65 Rockwell "C" hardness.

 

You didn't know this yet, but since joining the forum, I've changed my self-appointed Experience Grade from Intermediate to Beginner. 

 

Guapinol = GWAAH-peen-ouwl, according to an audio file I found online. 

 

How about this one? Looks like oak, but I'm new at identification.

 

 

[Bob Hodge]

This one is white oak. I did several variations on white oak. I usually don't stain wood to remain as true to the creator and creation as possible.  In this case, I varied a bit.

 

I also found that I failed to post one "cloud" of plates, actually the largest one. Here it is 

[Grandpadave52]

Another stellar display Bob. Thanks for sharing.