Books to modernize my turnings?

Books for beginning turners have been well discussed here, but there hasn't been much opinion and advice re books for we 'a little fa(u?)rther alongers' who want to enter the 21st century. (or at least the last half of the 20th) I hear footsteps from Walmart's cheap imported salad bowls so I need to move onward & upward. It's gift _receiving_ time and I'm considering four fairly current books to help me compete with the far East:

Hosaluk's "Scratching the Surface" Darlow's: "Woodturning Design" Robert's: "Masterful Woodturning" O'Donnells': "Decorating Wood"

Perhaps these authors consider different aspects, but I'm not likely to be gifted with all four. Maybe my old Raffin classic on bowl design is sufficient, but somehow buying it didn't make me an artist. I just know one of the above will. Your unbiased reviews? Opinions? Advice? Other book suggestions? Incredulous laughter? :( Arch

Fortiter,

Reply to
Arch
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Arch, I find many inspirations and artistic ideas in non woodturning books. For forms I've found the best in books on southwest pottery that are full of wonderful ideas. For patterns and textures look at books on decorating gourds or fractal patterns.

The Odonnel's book has a lot of ideas for surface treatment and Hossaluk's book has a lot of great examples of fine wood art.

happy turning, Al

Reply to
Al Hockenbery

Arch,

Hosaluk's book is very good. So is a companion book in the series by Wallace, Leier and Peters, "Contemporary Turned Wood: New Perspectives in a Rich Tradition".

O'Donnell's book is excellent.

Darlow's book is not good at all (it reads like a very dry "history of architecture" book, and, unless you turn columns, offers very little useful design information for a bowl and vessel turner.

I haven't read Robert's book.

I'm reading a book by Stephen Hogbin called "Appearance and Reality". Somewhat academic, but has some interesting concepts.

Reply to
Joe Fleming

Why not let the wood do it. Though I've seen a lot of decorated pieces, I haven't yet seen one which fascinates me as much as a nice feather or burl. Good spalting is almost a kaleidoscope of variety, not to mention it involves a softer road to beauty.

Reply to
George

Hello Arch:

I'm only familiar with Michael Hosaluk's book. I was lucky to purchase an autographed copy from him when he visited us in October.

It is a beautiful book and a wonderful addition to one's woodworking library but is not limited to woodturning. . Its subtitle is Art and Content in Contemporary Wood.

As stated on the inside flyleaf: "Scatching the Surface.............displays exceptional examples of surface design and narrative content in the studio wood movement. The sixth title in GUILD Publishing's craft showcase series, it features works by almost 100 acclaimed artists in vibrant, fullcolor photographs. It is a book of unusual beauty and rare delight."

Hope this helps

Reply to
John Coulombe

While all of those books are an excellent addition to the Christmas list and the library, I think it is you as an individual that will help you compete better with the "Far East". People with a personal connection to your work will spend more money and will buy it. The Far East product, while completely utilitarian, is not purchased by the same crowd that buys bowls from an artist who exhibits at a gallery or a fine arts show. The Far East products don't have the same classic shape as what you would do, nor the variety or wood and shape that you are able to achieve. All of those books, as well as any on Indian pottery (or any pottery) Southwestern Pottery, Anasazi to Zuni is a good choice too) are great templates. Once you can copy a masters work, then you can venture out on your own. All the books with give you theory and design principles, show you how to achieve author specified aesthetics, but cannot teach you to turn, nor more your hands and tools on the lathe. They will all show you what you may want to see, what is a classic line, shape ideas, but it is you who will put those shapes into your own work, with it's own personality.

-- Steve Worcester

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Better Woodturning through Technology (And a hell of alotta practice)

Reply to
Steve Worcester

I did wood turning years ago and have only recently returned to it. The reason I returned is finding a copy of O'Donnell's book in a store and thinking "Wow! I would really love turning wood again if I could combine it with some of my other hobbies like painting and carving and create exciting new objects." (I guess I really didn't think in such stilted terms but I was entranced be the book.) So I certainly recommend their book. I think their concepts are exciting and can be a jumping off point for all sorts of creative woodturning that is not what you ordinarily see.

Wanting still more alternative ideas, I will be checking out your other book ideas to see if I should add them to my wish list. Thanks.

Earl

Reply to
Earl

Aesthetics, like turning, has its own terminology. In art, "Modern" is a style and a period. It is not 'what's going on today' as many people use it. Technically, the Modern period is over. There are still a few Modern artists out there producing, but very few. The current artistic period, in broad terms, is called Post-Modern. However, this probably isn't what you are looking for. I think you are looking for ideas on Contemporary turning. That is, the state-of-the-art or 'what's going on today.' Hope this makes sense and helps, Dan

Reply to
Dan Bollinger

Thanks to each of you for your good suggestions.

I admit to and abjectly apologize for my grammatical error... misuse of the pronoun after the preposition. Phew! ;) OTOH, (a truly _modern_ acronym) my unabridged dictonary and I hope that "_to_ modernize" is acceptable in thy sight. ;) Arch

Fortiter,

Reply to
Arch

Arch, If you are looking to do heavily carved pieces, this is the book for you. While I liked the pieces in the book I couldn't see myself doing that much carving to a piece. I ended up selling the book on ebay. This book has its target audience, I'm just not in it.

Reply to
Tony Manella

Arch,

A book I recommend is "Designed For Delight: Alternative Aspects Of Twentieth-Century Decorative Arts." It's a book published in conjunction with a touring exhibition produced by the Montreal Museum Of Decorative Arts. I saw the exhibition when it was at the Cincinnati art museum a few years ago. It doesn't have a single turned object in it, but it will give you more ideas than all other woodturning books combined. It's available from Amazon.

Clay Foster

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Reply to
Clay Foster

Richard, I've just spent a pleasant lunch hour revisiting your book reviews section. Thanks for the reminder. Anyone who hasn't visited your entire site will find much good reading and solid information. I agree that collections of magazine articles repeated as a book, and the endlessly repetitive pictures of the seemingly same turning are both somewhat annoying.

One year on the 4th of July, Lorraine and I gave a tongue in cheek 'Loser's Party' for our Anglophile friends. After reading your review, I'm thinking about hosting a similar gala for the losers, including me, who mistakenly bought Weldon's "Shapes for Woodturners". Maybe we could bring our copies for the bonfire next Guy Fawke's day. :) Arch

Fortiter,

Reply to
Arch

Richard, as a newbie to wood turning, I really appreciated your site. I hadn't seen it before and it has alot of good information. The book reviews were great and have given me some to add to my wish list.

Thanks, Earl

Reply to
Earl

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