Musing whether some turnings should be better left undone

I was ruminating on this from a different angle this week. When is the turned object the art and when is it the canvas? Examples include pierced, carved, or painted turned objects. Would it make any difference if the 'canvas' was plastic, glass, or pottery?

LD

IMHO The difference in the turnings that we produce and the turnings that are produced for sale in stores like Target is in the approach to the turning itself. I turn for the Joy of turning. Where what is produced for Target is turned for profit (Not profit for the person who turns the item.). To me the items that I produce are of a higher quality than the items that are mass produced.

Steven Raphael

Hi Arch

As I'm sitting here at my desk, I have my coffee siting here next to me and it has gotten cold, I will go and put in my radar oven ok microwave and heat it up, would not do it if this was a wooden cup. Other point, if we were paid the wages that those people are being paid, we would not be sitting here and doing this. Would I buy a buy a bowl made out of pieces of board, No. I have seen bowls like that and the salad would not fall through, but the oil or other dressing would dribble all over you. And some would say nice bowl for the money, yes price (cheap) means everything for some and quality everything for others, and not only for salad bowls. Wouldn't cook a roast in a wooden bowl or grill a Salmon on a wooden platter, yes there are other mediums for some of the things we use. I'm going to heat up my coffee.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Thanks Lobby, "Lobby Dosser's Ruminations" would be sure to be of interest to woodturners and a relief from my musings. Consider posting some of them for all of us to enjoy.

Thanks Leo, Have you ever nosed and swallowed a wee dram of Scotch whisky aged in a charred _Oak cask before enjoying wild salmon grilled on a _Cedar plank over _Hickory chips with a big Greek salad built on a Vanderloo _Maple platter? Wood ain't obsolete yet. :)

Thanks Steven, Of course your salad bowls are of far better quality and appearance than Target's, but are they a lot more useful? :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

Most of us turn for fun. We're hobbiests and we do it for that reason so comparisons to store bought items are irrelevant. If I turn a wood goblet and drink out of it, it's mostly just to see if I can turn a wooden goblet and drink out of it! Glass is certainly more practical.

If you are turning for profit then you better have some kind of added value in your product. A glass salad bowl is always going to be more practical. The only reason to buy a turned salad bowl would be for the beauty of the piece...that's the added value. And when somebody from Asia can produce that bowl as beautiful as yours, then you better look for other products to turn. Come to think of it, I can't think of hardly anything that wouldn't be more practical out of other material. That's why you can hardly find wood products in the store any more.

I have always maintained that turned objects are ultimately only going to sell as "art" objects so we better just do it and stop crying over pens, bowls and stuff that come from other countries that undersell our custom pieces.

Earl

Why compare your work to Target or Wal-Mart? Why not window shop at Lord & Taylor or Neiman Marcus and then see if you should keep turning bowls!

I do have to admit that the treenware I see in some of the department stores does cause me to wonder if I'm just spinning my wheels (pun intended!). But then I get a check from one artisans gallery near Harrisburg, PA and I know there are people out there who do not even look in Target for a bowl and they keep me turning, and quite happily at that! : )

Take care and keep woodturning.

Ruth

Thanks Earl, for your well put and thoughtful response.

Most hobbies that involve making or acquiring something, result in selling: ex. dolls, stamps, knives, orchids (the flowers). Even fishing addicts hereabouts often sell some of their catch. Amateur painters sell (or hope to) their art. Most hobby woodturners sell some of their work (or want to) and if sold in a gift shop, gallery or mall could be considered as store bought goods.

Perhaps we 'purists' either don't know how to sell or we don't like the denominator of the income/hassle ratio. Nevertheless, we do enjoy the exhilaration of an easy sale of a piece that is much admired by a buyer.

There is as much diversity in woodturners as there is in woodturning..or is it the other way round? :).

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter