Wall hangings

mark sanger · 17 May 2009

Hi all

Gill the scrolling moderator ask me if I would show these here.

I am a turner and did not (as I am perhaps blinkered) that other people may be interested outside of the turning forum.

They are various sizes from 280 mm width x 700mm long to 400 mm x 500mm

But I will make them what ever size people want within safe capacity of my machine.

The designs are drawn on the back, turned and the design cut out with a jigsaw ( I haven't got to grips with my scroll saw yet for the smaller ones as they are harder to use then I thought) So I use a fine finish blade on my jigsaw. Then scorch and spray with an oil.

The designs I draw in as few lines as possible and come from my interest in Japanese calligraphy and Zen.

These are called.

Dance, Nurture, Diva and Tango I will leave you to decide which is which. I have others in the range but to date they are still in my sketch pad.

Comments welcome.

Gill · 17 May 2009

Thanks for posting them here too, Mark. I like them just as much as I did when I first saw them

.

This has got to be the antidote to detailed shadow portraits! Many scrollers seem to thrive on very intricate patterns with hundreds of pierced cuts which attempt to reproduce the subject faithfully. Those aren't projects which rock my boat, although I do appreciate the skill and patience required to cut them.

My preference is for projects like Mark's which communicate the essence of a subject. Ever since the invention of photography it has been possible to generate an accurate likeness which no artist or craft worker could ever hope to match. To my mind, it is futile to make the attempt. Instead, it is far more pleasing and meaningful to convey your feelings about your subject to people who are looking at your work. That's not to say I'm a fan of 'installation art' (I'm not) but so often we woodworkers fail to pay sufficient attention to what either the materials we are using or the subject itself mean to us. It means we produce pleasant work which might have value to a handful of people but holds little of interest to the wider population.

Mal (Pixy) asked recently what we can do to elevate our work in the eyes of others. I believe Mark has shown us one of the ways forward.

I hope I'm not pontificating too much, but I won't apologise because I believe this subject is so vital to us as creative woodworkers. Anyway, I'll jump off the soapbox and let someone else have a turn now

.

Gill

wizer · 17 May 2009

Gill I had an idea earlier of using Negative Space to create similar wall hangings. It's now on my tuit list.

mark sanger · 18 May 2009

Gill

Thank you.

It is interesting what you say with regards to Mal ( Pixy) said with how to elevate work in the eyes of others.

I say this is interesting as this is also a big subject in the turning arena where by we would like to elevate turning to be viewed on an equal footing as say glass, ceramics and sculpture.

I believe that turning is slowly shedding a skin and people are starting to think outside of the bowl for want of a better description.

Speaking from my experience I found I spent a lot of time on my techniques and skills with the tools and once these became proficient ( always refining to be done) That I then was able to look at items and think how can I make them while incorporating the lathe and not " I' can;t make that because it is not round or does not fit into the conventional format"

It is also important for me to try to make work that I can sell commercially and that will fit into modern/contemporary homes as the interior market is massive.

So lots of research in interior magazines to see what the current trends are and I then design ideas around this.

Today interiors are mainly muted base colours with injections of bright in your face colours and minimalist accessories ( not always as this is the modern style there is obviously other trends as well)

I would imagine that scrolling would fit into this very well. A piece of wood with simple contemplative shapes cut out which as with mine shown here can be hung on a wall allowing the back ground colour to show through.

But for me in trying to get turning appreciated by a wider audience I have had to take into account what others would like and design around this while maintaining my twist and likes, as opposed to making only what I like. If that makes sense.

Thank you again

Mark

StevieB · 18 May 2009

Simple and elegant, I like them!

Interesting turners have been having the same conversation as scrollers. To my mind you have to try and give poeple what they want. As Gill says, detailed portraits highlight skill but are not to everyones tastes. There seems to be a massive groundswell for 'organic', 'green' 'eco-friendly' or for want of a better word 'environmental' amongst the general populous at the moment. If I was marketing anything this is the direction I would be going in. This could range from the simple 'buy a wooden bowl, its eco friendly' through to sculptures in wood, or anything made from green timber. Not so much focusing on the skill of the maker, although that can itself be deceptive, but on the material or the finished statement the piece makes. Your wall hangings fit into this category - they highlight the timber while being simple yet pleasing. It also takes more skill than people realise to do these as the simple flowing lines jar the eye if they are not perfectly cut. In a busy portrait a mistake can easily be lost but here its the simpleness of the design that hides the degree of difficulty needed to cut it well.

Thanks for showing them here, I very rarely, if ever venture into the turners forum - perhaps I should stat to do so!

Steve.

chrispuzzle · 18 May 2009

I love them, I think they're superb.

Gill, I think you are absolutely on the money when you suggest that we give ourselves more space for self-expression and focus less on showing off our skill at faithfully reproducing an image - if we want to be regarded as artists rather than crafters, which not everybody would want.

A direct parallel with art pottery - ceramic vases - ought to be box-making which again can involve a number of different skills - turning, carving, scrolling and joinery.