Please Leave me feedback! Help me help you, and make our dreams come true!

Love,

Keith Burtis

Trend Air Shield Post

Popularity: 5% [?]

The Air Scare

Woodturners deal with dust and lots of it. The dust isn’t always the same as different woods have different properties and many of the imported exotics can be detrimental to your health. Some woods like Paddauk, Rosewood, and Bloodwood can create anything from severe allergic reactions to general lung irritation depending on the person. Lately I have been turning a lot and the heavy duty fiber respirators I am using don’t seem to be keeping up with the volume of activity in my shop. I use a dust collector, but the very small micronic particles build up over time and it seems that my lungs are feeling the side effects. Also, my day job as a cabinetmaker seems to add to the issues with plywood dust, chemical solvents, and glues. It is harder to protect myself at work due to the fact that there are others working around me and wearing a mask 24/7 is just not feasible.

Asthma

I have grown up with asthma. You might ask why the heck I picked the profession then. Well, I will say that artistic woodturning is in my blood. It’s my passion and I would do anything to continue on doing what I love. However, I am a realist in that I need to protect myself while in production of my art.

The Trend Air Shield

Have to love new technology right? I sure do! I Love computers, the net, digital cameras and everything else shiny and new. This is where the Trend Air Shield fits in. New technology to keep me safe and comfy while in my shop making dust. But like all things shiny and new they come with a shiny and new price tag. I think these people should sponsor me. What do you think? I would be the perfect candidate to test and evangelize their product.

The Proposition

So I have a proposition to make. Do you know anyone having a wedding? How about someone opening a business or that currently owns a business? How about someone close to you that might be retiring? Recently, I have been doing some carving on platters that I turn on my lathe. I did one for the Niagara on the lake Meet-up in August that was raffled off for the conference.

I want to make YOU a custom carved piece. Send me your logo, your name, or whatever you would like on the face of the platter and I will make it happen — all by hand. Below is a picture of the Niagara on the Lake meet-up platter. These platters usually go for between $299 and $350. My proposal is to make a barter; The Trend Air Shield for One Custom Turned Platter. For whoever would like to take me up on this barter I will also include four of my Hardwood Artisian Bottle Stoppers as a bonus.

The Help for Health

I try not to sound like car salesman too often. Actually I never like to sound that way, but I need to protect my health. The Trend Air Shield is new technology that can aide in my woodturning for now and for the future. Send me an e-mail. Keith@magicwoodworks.com or leave a comment in the box below this post if you would be interested in my proposed barter. I would be forever grateful and I thank you for considering.

Keith Burtis

Popularity: 4% [?]

A quick Video Update of my woodturning and whats up!

Comments welcome! Gets lonely in my shop

Popularity: 5% [?]

Hi Folks. Yep, it’s been two days since my last post. I have been really, really busy working on my woodturning for my art shows! I have screwed up and I owe you some art! Today, i decided i wanted to do something in the wood theme, I had seen some craftsmen at a local show that did what they call kinetic motion art. The craftsmen I saw had done this type of art with all sorts of materials, but todays artist David C Roy utilizes this kinetic motion design with all sculpted wood parts. Enjoy!

You can check out more of Davids work at Wood That Works

If you re an artists and would like me to feature your work in my daily…or semi-daily art posts please let me know. Post a comment or drop me an email. Of course you can check out photos of my woodturning by visiting my Etsy Store or Flickr photo gallery.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Handcrafted bowls, Sushi Sets, and Wine Bottle Stoppers. Thats been my life for the weekend so far. I’ve spent maybe 10-12 hours hunched over my lathe and I need break! Today, my woodturning is going to serve as Art Post of the Day #6 as well as an update to what I’ve been up to.

Handcrafted Bowls from Figured English Walnut

I’ve taken these bowls right from tree to finished product. I love having this kind of control over the processing of the wood right from the tree. I am able to select the grain direction and blend different grain patterns. You will see here in the Natural Edge Bowl that the grain runs in two different directions causing a quilted look.

—————————————————————————————————

Quilted Natural Edge Bowl

—————————————————————————————————

Scallop Shaped Bowl From English Walnut

—————————————————————————————————-

New Style of Sushi Dish Sets

—————————————————————————————————–

The new style sushi dished have a stripe of red/orange Paddauk in the center or slightly off center. This Paddauk will change color a bit with age getting deeper and richer in it’s patina. More recently uploaded photos can be seen on my flickr photo album.
Thank you for checking out my work and any comments would be lovely.

Keith Burtis

Popularity: 5% [?]

Art Pick of the Day

Todays art pick of the day is paying homage to my mother. When I saw this gallery of art I immediately thought of Mom! My mother has never walked by the shore of a lake, a beach, or any waterfront property without asking me to climb down some crazy rock ledge to pick up a cool looking piece of driftwood. For some reason this love for driftwood has somehow leeched into my blood as well and todays art pick is the perfect selection of Driftwood art.

Oh yea, my mother is also a huge fan of horses!

Todays Artist

Todays artist is Heather Jansch, she is an amazing sculptural and visual artist. I do not know Heather but she works out of her beautiful studio in her home in the West Country of England. As far as I can gather Heather sells her original art works of Driftwood sculpture. Some of these sculptures even get a coat of bronze! To further her reach, heather photographs her sculptures in beautiful scenes and sells the prints. I will be getting one of these for sure!

Popularity: 3% [?]

Art Pick of the Day

This is why I love doing these segments of blog posts! The artists featured today have what I would call the ultimate imagination. They literally turn scrap into gold! You’d never know by looking at the piece itself, but when you shine a light on it…the art becomes apparent.

Slightly Warped features the art of Tim Nobel & Sue Webster. I hope this brings you to open up your mind next time you look at a pile of junk!

Public Goals!

My Public Goals of winning best of show at one of my two art fairs is coming along. I have been turning as much as I can, seeing that I have a day job and planning out the way my booth will be set up for the shows.

Also, adding to the mix, I am creating a new Video Podcast called Woodturning & Creative Arts in where I will be displaying my woodturning craft as well as discussing and featuring other artists. I will also discuss where my inspiration comes from in creating my works. A special thank you to John Meadows who will be aiding in the video editing portion of the process.

Please let me know what you think of these Art Pick of the Day articles. If there is a certain genre that you would like to see please leave it in the comment field below.

Thank you
Keith Burtis

Popularity: 4% [?]

Todays Art Pick of the day lies in it’s simplicity.

Culture

Same

We are all one earth people. Lets act like it

Thank you,
Keith Burtis

Popularity: 10% [?]

Cool Art Site #2

Today I found a site that was really cool! The art on this blog/website called Zuza Fun is everything that art should be. The pictures get your brain working, they are truly unique and some create an auditory response in my brain. When you check this site out, you’ll know what I mean. Elephants with a tuba as a heads is the only teaser I will leave you.

Scroll down….Atlas of Wonder is by far my favorite!

Public Goal

Todays Public Goal - same as my last art blog post.

I hope to win best of show in one of the two art shows that I will be participating in during September and October. Both would be great, but I hope to win best of show at one of the two!

I am working on prep this evening towards that goal. I am setting up all of my turned items, prepping, gluing, and organizing so that by thursday I can just turn, turn, turn wood!

Thank you for your comments & Feedback

Keith Burtis

—————————————————————————————————–

Recent Articles
Interactive Web Tools for Artists & Creative Professionals Part One/Part Two

Popularity: 4% [?]