Gone with a Flash

4/16 5:07 AM

A slow motion capture of lightning flashes during an early morning storm.  During the brightest flash you can really see the contrast of surfaces.  The white faced apartments bounce the light off creating harsh contrasts with the black window frames.  The brown apartments absorb the color more.  You can really see the energy being exerted and diminish quickly from the light source.  I wonder what the color temperature of lightning is? 

I tried different camera settings on the iPhone and but it didn't capture the other moments of the storm, including a long horizontal lightning bolt across the sky (would have been so nice).

Also, notice the strobing effect of the back porch light to the left.  Caused by the high frame-rate capture.

Dancing Shadows

March 21 4:21 pm

Here is a video I took post-concussion resting on the beach.  I was under a palm tree and saw interesting movement in the corner of my eye.  I was originally looking up towards the sky towards the palm leaves itself.  But here the shadows moving across the uneven pockets of sand create a dancing like movement that I found soothing.  The shadows lines are articulate and sharp due to a cloudless sky and the directness of the sun.  I've been fond of the shadows created by light lately.  The duality of how light cannot exist without dark.  Light not only illuminates, it can divide the space around it.

A Sexy Post

I decided that before I jump more into the world of 3D that I wanted to explore how the material itself reacts.  I still had some extra wood left over from my last wood turning assignment so I turned that, and let it sit in the back of my mind until I could think of a design.

Inspiration/ideas:
Champagne flutes, dainty, curves, turning knots, the color of cedar after oiled, working the wood-grain

Too long for a chuck only unfortunately.  But I don't know how to use the bowl gouge anyway.

 The rough areas that I wanted to alter.

 Decided to go with more sweeping curves to really get some bend in the wood grain

Shaping the top.  Was imagining a flower bud, tulip or rose.

Finally form while spinning right before sanding.

I applied two coats of cutting board oil I had laying in my kitchen cabinet when I used to cook all the time, once upon a time.  It really brought out the red of the wood.  I don't think I'll apply wax over this.

Troubles and learning points:

The longer the piece of wood the more measures need to go into securing it.  My wood shifted while on the chuck so I had to re-round it a few times.  The upside to that, is that it probably changed the angle of attack on the wood grain.  Which if you look how the knot was warped in the photos, It kind of looks like the wild storm on Jupiter.  I fell in love with that portion.  Next step, driftwood from outer space!

I wanted to try and hollow out the top but without the experience and the shape/size of the wood I quickly scrapped the idea.

This type of wood, i'm still thinking it's cedar until I'm proved wrong, chips easy especially getting to thinner curves.  I started sharpening the tools more often and increasing the speed which helped a lot.  Especially when carving through the knots.

I also wish I turned the base more before I took it off the lathe.  But when you've lost yourself to the lathe for 6-8 hours (who knows what time it was) it was done.  I have already re-rounded it 3 times.

Could I have done this on the 4-axis?  Sure, but I wanted to gain more of the familiarity with working with the wood and creating these shapes by hand.  I did, and after using more of the lathe chisels I'm exploring which ones I like and can use to achieve the visions I have.

And finally here is my video blooper: