Art nouveau copy

[bodrighywood]

This was based on an art nouveau vase by William Morris I saw recently in a gallery. It is 13" tall x 6 1/2" max. diameter. The bottom section is spalted, wormy (well not any longer LOL) elm that has been filled with aluminium powder where needed. The neck is some oak I was given that seems to be well on it's way to becoming bog oak. There is a gilded ring between the two. It is all hollowed out to about 5mm. It still has the tenon on it as I leave these things for a while to make sure they have stopped moving.
C&C welcome as always

[Derek]

Love the form and the wood choices, a well finished piece. Did you drill the neck and widen it with chisels

[bodrighywood]

I have an old long drill I use for things like this. My gouges aren't long enough to right through.

Pete

[Bryan Milham]

Pete,

I'm loving this, all aspects of it work. The lower section, spalting, worm holes (and all) the idea of filling them so they stand out, as if you are making a statement of 'look, here they are.'

The neck is a wonderful shape, the curves are just right and the colour, almost Bog oak I can see what you mean, but I think we'd all like to be able to get our hands on oak that colour. The blue sheen inside the top is beautiful.

Got any more?

[bodrighywood]

Thank you. I have several pieces of the wood in various shades of grey and blue. I also have a couple of pieces that are jet black waiting to find a use for. All too small just to make something on their own from but ideal for this sort of thing. Just waiting for inspiration LOL.

Pete

[Sevilla]

I really like the long neck and the overall shape. Great piece.

[Les Symonds]

Hi Pete....I love the fact that it's a shape that we haven't seen before - something new here (certainly in the time that I've been a member). I like the idea of highlighting the worm holes, if nothing else, the customer knows from the outset what they are buying, but more than that, it gives the piece integrity.

Les

[Bryan Milham]

Just waiting for inspiration LOL.

Pete,

if you find any spare inspiration laying aroound, we'd all like to share!

[bodrighywood]

Just waiting for inspiration LOL.

Pete,

if you find any spare inspiration laying aroound, we'd all like to share!

Thank you for the comments. I have just got Marks new book and there is a long neck hollow form in the projects. I did mine before I got the book but he uses the same method as me (or should that be I use the same method as him LOL?)
Try typing pottery or ceramics into Google and look at the different shapes. Oriental, art nouveau, art deco are all good sources for ideas as they all rebel against the complex and over decorated work that is so often seen.

Pete

[Eric Harvey]

great looking piece,stands out from the crowd this one,lovely job,cheers,

Eric.

[Derek]

I know what you mean when you say looking for inspiration I too have googled various images for ideas.

My sister wondered why I took a camera into her loo for, well before anyone gets the wrong idea I found this

[woodndesign]

Hi Pete, I like the form, yet for as much as we love timber as a medium, this as a form has a blandness. In the sense that Morris, Art Nouveau and Art Deco created a form as a vehicle for what with then the crafts bold designs and decorations, most sadly these usually were glass, pottery or porcelain, which has been the trend ever since man found he could fire earth, and the wood for that fire.

That said you've executed the form well, color it, use it as just a decorative canvas and you've the Art Nouveau you'd wished to copy, After all Art is really what pleases the eye to everybody, not the medium from which it is made. Untill you venture into fine Art.

Cheers   David

[Les Symonds]

I wouldn't wish to throw too big a spanner into the movement, but is this really Art Nouveau at all....it strikes me as being more in line with the Arts and Craft movement's designs....which sits more comfortably with the William Morris influence? If this is the case, then a wooden piece such as this is in perfect keeping with the central ethos of the movement.
The Arts and Craft movement predated the Art Nouveau era by about 30 years, although they sat alongside each other right through until about 1910; but Morris was firmly in the camp of the former movement and his great delight was that of producing fine wooden furniture that epitomised the individually deigned and hand made piece, whereas much of the decorative pieces of ceramics and glass associated with Art Nouveau were unashamedly mass produced in their thousands.

Les

[bodrighywood]

Les, you are probably right, though I am always getting them all mixed up and confused. The piece I saw was a William Morris vase and yes he was Arts and Crafts and a keen advocate of handmade things. I never could work out where one started and the other ended. He was very anti the mass produced stuff though I personally feel that it was him and others like him that sparked off the Art Nouveau movement initially.

Pete