We are "hard wired" to initially be wary of the unfamiliar and acepting
of the
familiar. The unfamiliar makes us uncomfortable. We tend to stick with
what
we know - or think we know. Paradoxically, our species is also hard
wired to
be adaptive.

There is grace and symetry in Barbara's work - her four arcs tea set -
for example.
Cindy Drozda's "three sided" lidded boxes with beautiful proportions and
elegant
finials are another example. Gary Fisher's multi-axis plaques, for want
of a better
term, are yet another example.

Because we are not accustomed to seeing intersecting arcs rather than
the more
familiar single axis - full round cross sections - and the predictable
profile of
traditional lathe turned pieces - it's initially difficult to see the
symetry that is
- in fact -present in multi axis pieces.

But to see the grace and symetry one must see beyond round cross
sections - which
- by their nature - have the same profile as you walk around them or as
you rotate
them. By using intersecting arcs, only parts of circles - the profile
changes as the piece
is rotated. It can merely change proportions - looking taller and
narrower - then more
like the familiar Golden Ratio (or 1/3rd above, 2/3rds below or 2/5ths
above, 3/5ths
below a shoulder). And it introduces edges where arcs meet - something
that you don't
get to play with when limited to single axis turning turned to circular
cross sections.

Round and Brown has had hundreds of years to develop its aesthetics -
and based on
several thousand years of ceramic "thrown" pieces. Multi axis turning
is relatively
new - Francoise Escoulen being one of the ground breakers and first
internationally
recognized multi axis turner - came on the turning scene only about a
dozen years ago.

Like anything new in arts / crafts, multi axis turning "takes some
getting use to".
And "getting use to" multi axis turnings requires a bit of work -both on
the part of
the audience / viewer and the multi axis turner - mostly by the multi
axis turners.
And if the audience / viewer is a wood turner - who does single axis
turning - the
multi axis turner has to workeven harder to educate / cultivate single
axis turners.

By providing a structure for conceptual models of the basics of multi
axis turning
- something essential for the unfamiliar to become familiar - Barbara
Dill has provided
the basic tools / concepts to do that. And with that structure, she's
provided anyone
who wants to explore multi axis turning with a map - and compass - the
underlying
concepts and techniques to literally turn a concept into a reality.
Using those "tools",
people will come up with all sorts of new pieces - some good, some not
so good. But,
in time, and with more exposure, aesthetics for multi axis pieces will
develop and
become more familiar - and accepted - by not only turners, but also by
collectors,
galleries and museums.

Fortunately, the turning community is pretty open to new ideas and
techniques.
And that probably explains why turning is growing in leaps and bounds.