It's a mine-field, George, isn't it.
Those of us who use forums regularly will easily identify those members who give nothing but praise on every thread that they view, whilst we also know which members will give a much more objective view. I will always be grateful to the frank, fair and constructive criticism that several members gave me in my early months as a woodturner, whilst I recognise that commensurate with that criticism, there were other contributors who simply praised my work - I learnt much more by being told where I was going wrong than I learnt by being told that what I'd made was 'brilliant' or 'superb'.
I firmly believe that there is a difficulty that any one of us faces when offering criticism of work in an international forum like this. Whilst most of our members are UK based, many are not, and it is clear that their nations' perception of fine shape and form, of decoration and of finish can sometimes be very different to ours - so who are we to criticise with a view to declaring our beliefs as being right. If what we perceive as being over-fussy, over decorative shape and form is the norm and very much in-vogue in the nation of the contributor, then perhaps they are right, and we are wrong to suggest that a more subtle, flowing curve might be better. For this reason, I prefer to criticise the quality of the hand-work, rather than the design element.
Les
