Pics for AAW Magazine ...

Here are some pics of my own pieces that I have just sent to Carl Voss, editor of the American Association of Woodturners Magazine 'American Woodturner', with the hope of some of them being published in an article about 'up-and-comming' woodturners in South Africa (except for the last four images which were taken this evening, too late to be included on the CD). Carl, I have added the final four images in very large format so they can be downloaded directly from the blog for publication. I have also added significantly more text this morning (4 March) which you are welcome to use in the article if you find it appropriate.

Photo credits:
Images "IMGxxxx.jpg" - Ken Turner
Images "DSCNxxx.jpg" - Dennis Laidler



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Spalted big leaf maple burl and African blackwood

160mm x 100mm

This is made from a blank that Andi Wolfe brought me on one of her trips

As with most spalted wood it was quite punky and needed a very deft touch with a very sharp gouge

This piece went to the home of a happy collector earlier this week

I have enjoyed turning hollow forms through narrow openings since I first got past the basic bowl turning stage. Topping off such vessels with a lid and finial in the style popularised by Cindy Drozda has lifted my efforts to a new level.


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Pink ivory and African blackwood

approx 170mm x 110mm

Pink vory is very hard and fine grained. It cracks easily if eposed to excessive heat so the hollowing must be done gently and abrasive must be sharp and used gently to avoid surface checks









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Pink ivory and African blackwood

approx 170mm x 110mm

The finial on this one is a definite improvement on the first one above











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Norfolk Island Pine

280mm x 230mm

Variants of this classic vase shape are one of my favourite forms to turn from Norfolk Island Pine

The key to the success of these pieces is that the curve must flow, unbroken, from the neck to the base

The curvature can change along its length but must never be inturrupted by hint of a flat section





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Norfolk Island Pine

280mm x 230mm

A beautiful pic of the same vessel as above

You can clearly see the difference that a professional lighting setup makes. Compare this picture with the one above which was taken using my rather amaturish lighting setup at home

The main problem is that at home I just don't have the space to set up all the backdrops, lights and filters without rearranging all the furniture in the lounge!

Thanks Ken for assisting with these quality images


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Norfolk Island Pine

approx 290mm x 230mm

If one centres the log on the lathe, measuring from the bottom of the pits below each branch, one can often turn windows all the way around the vessel below each 'branch'

I usually judge the wall thickness of these bowls when turning them using the same backlighting technique as Merete Larsen shows in the book of the late Tony Boase, "Bowl turning techniques masterclass"





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Ironwood

approx 300mm x 250mm

It was really hard to part with this wonderful character piece

It was sold recently and is now in transit to a collector in New York



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Ironwood

approx 300mm x 250mm

Here is another view of the same piece

I retrieved this from the labourer's firewood pile at a forest reserve who's manager allows me to scratch around there occassionally. Its a few hours drive from Cape Town so I don't get there frequently.

The centre of this log was totally rotten and I mounted it on the lathe with a sense of resignation. I knew that it would turn out either a wonderful piece or 'turn into' a complete disaster. As it transpired I turned one of my favourite pieces of all time. This for me is is one of the joys of turning. Although one starts out with an idea in ones head the material often plays the final card, especially if one is turning near the limits of ones skill. As I've become more technically skillfull I'm focusing far more on the aesthetics of the work. Even a relatively straight forward natural edge bowl becomes an exercise in refining the profile of the piece, ballancing the wall thickness and foot size with the overall diameter. These aspects become more important than all the tools and techniques.

I've also discovered the joy of not turning everything as thin as possible! Bigger pieces with inclusions of natural bark and veld fire burned and other interesting natural textures demand 'mass' in the final product. As my good friend Dave Stevenson once described to me, holding a refined but massive thick walled character piece in his hands, "This is what I call a value for money bowl!"

I also find that my mood on the day determines which log or bowl blank I choose to mount on the lathe. The range of pieces illustrated in this post clearly illustrates this. Working as I do in environmental governance, one's stressed out work days are usually spent desperately trying to influence the crass, behaviour of developers, polluters, undisciplined consumers, the environmentally ill-informed and often the plain self-centered and greedy of our world. Just ocassionally one begins the weekend elated by some minor victory.

That's how it is when I enter the workshop, either ready to attack some great big whirling lump of wood on a Stubby 1000 with a huge sharp gouge or gently set up on the little Jet mini and intently tackle a fine finial to top off the latest small hollow vessel. In whatever mood I start the turning weekend, eventually all the sharp corners are knocked off and the whole process, big or small, becomes a more gentle reaxing process as one ends up spending a couple of hours with deft touches of tool on wood, drawing out the beauty of ones latest creation with fine abrasives and coats of special finish.

"Ja well no fine", as we say here in South Africa. It all really comes down to having good clean creative fun and sharing ones passion with other fortunate souls who share the same wacky passion. I have met some wonderful people, locally and worldwide, through my hobby.

With a group of seven other passionate local turners under the guiding hand of Izak Cronjee, one of the revered grandfathers of turning in South Africa, I am lucky enough to be part of Waterfront Woodturners. This is a group of turners who share a single outlet at the Red Shed Craft Workshop at the Cape Town Waterfront. This is the restored area around the harbour much frequented by visitors to our wonderful city.


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Brazilian pepper (driftwood base, unknown)

300mm x 270mm

A fun sculptural piece that I turned recently

The colouring and burning technique was introduced to me by Carol Rix, a visiting turner from Nambour, outside Brisbane, Australia








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Pink ivory and African blackwood

175mm x 145mm

Clearly inspired by the work of Cindy Drozda

This type of fine work is in total contrast to the big natural edge bowls that I am also so fond of turning

It's great for honing ones finer turning skills, particularly the finial

Pink ivory is very hard and fine grained. It cracks easily if exposed to excessive heat so the hollowing must be done gently and abrasive must be sharp and used gently to avoid surface checks


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Walnut and African blackwood

185mm x 110mm

This piece is waiting to go to its new home in Columbus, Ohio

I exchanged it for a piece of equipment that Andi Wolfe brought over for me on her last trip from the USA

It wasn't quite finished before she left so I managed to enjoy it for an extra couple of months before sending it off to her

The walnut for this piece and the piece below were turned from the core of a veneer log that was imported into South Africa by a Cape Town timber merchant about 25 years ago. It was purchased by my brother-in-law many years ago who never did use it for the sculpture project he was planning and who subsequently passed it on to me. One can clearly see the impessions from the drive dogs on the veneer core in the photographs in an earlier post.

I have used an image of this piece on the front of my new private business card

On the back of the card is an image of the big ironwood natural edge bowl pictured earlier in this post

I'm really impressed by the work of Jo (Yolande) Glover of The Worx Promotions who designed the card for me

She is the daughter of Thys Carstens one of the other partners at Waterfront Woodturners

I can't wait for them to be delivered!


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Walnut

75mm x 135mm

I love the natural burn on this vessel

The walnut was extremely hard, dry and brittle and required great care when hollowing

I really wanted to avoid straining my back picking up lots of little pieces of walnut from the workshop floor!


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Camphor

230mm x 230mm

What a wonderful aroma in the workshop

This piece has been one of my first forays into carving on turning and I learned an enormous amount on this first attempt

I've done some other smaller pieces in similar style and am keen to do more




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Camphor

230mm x 230mm

A slightly different view of the same piece

Everyone who visits Waterfront Woodturners just loves to fondle this piece and deeply inhale the camphor aroma inside

I've learned not to finish the inside of camphor pieces with more than a single coat of finish in order not to seal away the aroma of this wonderful wood



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Walnut

68mm x 85mm

A small piece that still needs a lid - not finished yet - Carl please ignore this picture on the CD






Click on the four pictures below to upload the full size images - hopefully suitable for publication.


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Cork oak

160mm x 320mm

This piece is the smallest of three cork oak bowls that I have turned recently

Cork oak grows well in our mediterranean climate here in the Western Cape and is fairly readily available from local 'tree fellas'

The log was the remains of a large tree bole that had been left standing after the rest of the tree had been removed. Ken Turner, another partner in Waterfront Woodturners, a retired photographer, and photographer of most of the pictures on this post kindly donated the log to me rather than cut it up to fit his smaller lathe. Wonderful people these turners.

The whole log was well spalted and rather punky. One turns the cork natural edge just like any other natural edge but very sharp tools and a deft cut are an absolute must. I lightly sharpened my gouge before each cut of the natural edge to keep use of abrasives to a minimum. However judicious power sanding definitely improved the inner and outer surface of the cork bark. I also used a substantial volume of CA to stabilise the bark and its contact with the wood proper. I can't wait to finish the two larger bowls from this log and then tackle the remaining bowl blanks.

Here is a link to an earlier post showing this bowl and the middle size bole in preparation
and another post showing the biggest one being turned. The big cork oak bowl is a 650mm diameter monster that I'm looking forward to finishing in the near future.


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Norfolk Island Pine

265mm x 195mm

I love the pits under each branch even if they can't be developed into windows

Norfolk Island Pine when fresh is very pale (white/cream) and bland. I leave the logs standing outdoors in the rain and weather for a couple of months before using them to allow the spalting that results in the wonderful figuring shown in the piece opposite





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Avocado

165mm x 505mm

This large natural edge bowl was turned from a georgeous big avocado log also given to me by my good friend Ken Turner

Avocado is wonderful soft, fine grained wood with a pink colour that darkens with exposure. It is easy to work, cutting very cleanly with minimum tear out, but does move substantially as it dries. Its really not a problem if natural edge bowls move somewhat after turning, especially if the movement is symetrical. One must however re-turn the foot, so the piece stands firmly, and blend the curves to the outside of the bowl if there has been movement. However when turning a 'conventional' bowl it is very important to completely re-turn the thick walled partly turned bowl once it is totally dry and stable in order to end up with a pleasing product

You can see the big avocado log being processed into bowl blanks here, and the 'twin bowl blank' to the one from which this bowl was turned, being turned into a large conventional bowl here


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European oak

103mm x 235mm

I was inspired to try turning oak after reading a book on the work of Jim Partridge

I love his simple black polished or sandblasted oak turnings, benches and outdoor sculptures and constructions

Being really attracted to the natural characteristics of wood itself I am very reluctant to artificially colour my turnings. However as with the sculptural piece pictured earlier in this post I do occasionally experiment. I must be brave when next I get my hands on a piece of oak and blacken it. On this theme, I also really admire the work of Liam Flynn. Those little red highlights he has applied to some of his recent black pieces really do it for me. (And now that I try to find such an image showing the red highlight - all gone!)