On Jan 22, 5:51*pm, (Arch) wrote:

SNIP

I ask you, "Where will it all end"? *I suspect that "this too will pass"
and the day will come when much of what's again considered our best work
will cllimb down from the gallery shelf and go back home. Wood bowls
will once again hold lettuce, wood candle sticks will hold candles and
wood pepper mills will again produce the wonderful aroma of freshly
ground pepper corns on that lettuce. Past really is prologue, just you
wait and see, Mr. & Ms. current famous artist.

Nailed it! Spot on!

I couldn't agree more. I can see a time when I will be watching the
guru of the day espousing just that.

**Imagine two men in a quiet studio/shop, sitting quietly talking
about woodturning. One is a bespectacled almost 40 something, in
comfortable clothes and needing a haircut - or at least a brush -
talking in a soft, patient voice. The other is a woodturner that has
a successful TV show on how to turn, making him an expert/critic**

"You see, you get a sense of the original intent of a vessel when
holding this piece".

"How so?"

"Well, (says the young man in the khaki pants and beard), I get an
almost organic feel in its simplicity. Without any decorations of
super polished finish, one is given the message that this bowl could
actually be used".

"Astonishing... innovative...."

"This piece is light years ahead of its time, and yet has the ability
to reach back over the centuries to the aritsans of the past,
channeling their intense desire for purity of form".

"Wow..." says the showman/critic. "I ALMOST mistook it for a bowl,
similar to the one I ate my salad from last night. Looks like we have
something else to sell!"

Then the herd will move towards more simple, utility shapes, and will
use natural oils to finish. They will call themselves
traditionalists.

And many of us will be quietly amused.

Robert