"Arch" wrote: (clip)gilding a corn stalk. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I can see that a gilded corn stalk might be quite attractive.

The questions you are raising about esthetics keep coming up, not only among
wood turners, but also among painters, photographers, architects, designers,
to name a few. The subject is complex, and I don't think will ever be
completely resolved, which is why it keeps coming up. As a photographer, I
am quite familiar with the rules of composition. These rules represent
centuries of experience, but they do not *determine* what is beautiful.
They are no more than helpful guides. The danger is that once you learn the
"rules," you may start being controlled by them, and your independent
esthetic sense could fade away.

When everyone starts following the same rules, we are on the road to
dullness. Inevitably, though, someone with a backbone comes along and
starts does something different, creating a new excitement, possibly a new
trend, some new rules, and eventually a new dullness.