Hi dr4g0nfly
Thanks for your C&C... Really appreciate this!
First and foremost I am working very hard on my tooling skills and taking on different projects is really helping that and helping me learn the use of gouges etc. I am certainly getting there but still making silly mistakes and then finding ways of making it right. Doing it "right"? Well, not so sure about that but watching videos specifically on tool use and practicing and, perhaps adapting slightly to what works for me has really helped.
I have to agree with your critique, mostly
![Wink ;)](https://www.awgb.co.uk/awgbforum/Smileys/classic/wink.gif)
especially relating to the olive vase. However, the bulb at the base is solid and does give a sturdy, stable base for a small bud to be placed in. The straight stem was an experiment, and has a look of a bud vase that I remember from childhood, that I quite like but do respect that shape and form is subjective.
The Medronho, standing at just over 6.5" with a 1.5" - 2" base is stable and has good weight at the base. The "funny little but badly formed bead" Isn't/wasn't meant to be a bead, at least not how I see a bead to be. It was just a way to distinguish the base from the stem. The burn marks I am pleased with and make the vase a little more interesting in its fairly white, 'green' phase.
What I have found is that making these two yesterday that they offer a great way to practice toolwork in different ways to turning bowls. I am going to be making a few more of these today in various guises, perhaps even with a bead or two
There are quite a few varieties of bud vase design on the internet that I have looked at, some are pretty hideous, IMHO, but do give ideas to practice/modify.