What inspires you???

[jttheclockman]

When it comes to turning pens, what is it that inspires you??? I am talking about selection of kit materials and designs??? Outside of those pens that you are making for specific sales. I am sure we all just want to go in the shop and try new things or make pens for ourselves or for a challenge. What and how do you determine what to try???

For me it is simple. I hate mundane. When I first started turning pens I made a couple wood pens and a couple acrylics just to get the feel of turning a pen. That quickly left my sysyem. Don't get me wrong I like to look at nice burl woods and woods with character. Acrylics are just that plastic with color. You get some interesting colors but again can get boring for me.

I need challenges. I need to take my pen turning to new levels. I need to make blanks that interest me. I took up segmenting to fill this gap and continue new things there because the sky is the limit. Casting is another area that can be fulfilling in that there is so many different things that can be embedded. So many materials can be used. I get my inspirations from the big name pen guys. I look at some of their pens and try to duplicate or even expand on their ideas using what is available to me.

 

[Jim]

On my day i just go into the shed and whatever I come out with was never planned, i go in there wanting to make a pen, but never knowing what i will walk out with ... :wink:

 

[Terry]

I am the same as Jim. I make whatever comes to mind when I walk into my workshop !!!!

 

[Woody]

Snap I can go out to my workshop intending to make a pen and come in with a vase depending on what takes my fancy when I get in among my wood stock

 

[Grump]

I am afraid I cant' afford the luxury of being inspired.
Standing on someone else's wallet lifts me bodily and spiritually to higher levels.
The fatter the wallet, the higher I get lifted.
I never know what I am gonna do until the highest bidder tells me what I am gonna do.
Trouble is nobody is bidding at the moment and the wallets are thin on the ground.
So nothing better to do than make idle gossip and talk a load of twaddle, seems I am not alone in this pursuit init?

 

[jttheclockman]

I am afraid I cant' afford the luxury of being inspired.
Standing on someone else's wallet lifts me bodily and spiritually to higher levels.
The fatter the wallet, the higher I get lifted.
I never know what I am gonna do until the highest bidder tells me what I am gonna do.
Trouble is nobody is bidding at the moment and the wallets are thin on the ground.
So nothing better to do than make idle gossip and talk a load of twaddle, seems I am not alone in this pursuit init?

Sometimes it takes me a tad longer to figure people out but I have you figured out now. Have a great day.

 

[Penpal]

John, Whilst you get bored consider how I feel when you comment on your switching off when someone produces a Slimline then praise a Cigar pen for different reasons. Searching for the Holy Grail using famous Pen Makers products could be fun but real satisfaction comes from being unique. What is your market direction is it to become famous or produce unique and distinctively your own design?

What inspires me (your question) is to make pens not for profit within my means that revolve around particular people such as thematic pens for my Professional helpers that provide life support for me and my family. Stepping outside the normal I made a finished surface Brown Mallee Burl piece using my SKF miniature drill I engraved two small babies feet surrounded by two adult hands in outline, coloured the lines beneath the decoration the Vietnamese two words for love. Then mounted a Pewter Card Holder of two Swans (Swans mate for life). The couple I made this for are Vietnamese Aussie born they own and run a Podiatrist business near me. Why do they inspire me well William the Podiatrist at my first visit started prodding around my feet with a flexible probe and without saying why checked both my feet thoroughly pronounced I had lost a large percentage of feeling creating a Neuropathy in both feet. Recently I dropped a heavy jar of Strawberry Jam om my right foot was surprised it did not smash puzzled it turned out it hit my right foot and the foot went black the next day I did not feel that. (I find it almost impossible to cut my toe nails Im 6 foot two of stiffness) . The next visit he removed a sliver of steel well over a centimetre
long from a big toe turning septic so I owe him for his keen eyesite and kindness. He and his wife really display genuine care and impressed me so much. Anyway I gave them this Item and they received it with effuce thanks. This type of thing, the pen I made from a mate in the USA blank of Cobra skin (Slimline with Streamline centre band) for the surgeon proffessor lady who saved my wifes life two years ago (Cancer). The Dental Drill etc Pen made using a dental handpiece and burl plus pen rest and so on a hundred times these inspire me.

Now I hasten to assure you I admire your work I have seen on this forum and others please enjoy your passions as I enjoy mine. The pictures you take are excellent and you have a flare for perfection. Whatever you do I trust it is rewarding and you find your personal Nirvana.

Kind regards Peter.

 

[ataylor]

Seeing you guys on here do what you do is enough to inspire me.

 

[jttheclockman]

enpal;36927]John, Whilst you get bored consider how I feel when you comment on your switching off when someone produces a Slimline then praise a Cigar pen for different reasons. Searching for the Holy Grail using famous Pen Makers products could be fun but real satisfaction comes from being unique. What is your market direction is it to become famous or produce unique and distinctively your own design?



Now I hasten to assure you I admire your work I have seen on this forum and others please enjoy your passions as I enjoy mine. The pictures you take are excellent and you have a flare for perfection. Whatever you do I trust it is rewarding and you find your personal Nirvana.

Kind regards Peter.[/QUOTE]


Peter I do not know how to ansswer this question. I do not know where you are quoting from. Weather it be here or from another site. I comment on pens I feel are what I like to see. Being I do not comment on all pens I see has no bearing on the question I asked. Everyone does not comment on every pen that is shown.

As far as my direction I try to make pens with different looks and are interesting to me. There is no such thing as a pen distinct to one person unless he or she has cast some extrodinary design and has pattened it. I too have made pens for people with stories behind them. If that is what drives you and inspires you than fine. That is very good explanation but please do not look any further into my question. It was just a question.