Mouldy March

We held a virtual turning competition in March 2021 (as we couldn't meet face-to-face due to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic). The title was "Mouldy March", and the theme was "Make something from spalted wood". Here are the results.

The competition was judged anonymously by Peter Wade and Graham Mee, who were judging on four categories: Brief, Form, Function and Finish. The committee have decided not to publish the scores, but to show the entry photographs and a summary of the judges' comments for each entry. We received a total of 7 entries.

Member	Judges' Comments
Dave Matthews	Nice shaped pot using spalted wood with an Ebony (?) band and finial.	Finial fits in well. More pictures would have helped, e.g. is the band part of the lid or body? How does the lid sit on the body?	The band may be a bit thick compared to the delicate shape of the pot. Does the band really add to the piece? Overall shape has a good flow. An indication of size would have been useful - coffee mug sized?	Finish appears good throughout with no apparent tool or sanding marks. A nice piece of wood.
Mike Byrne	Natural edge bowl - the wood does not appear to be very spalted but has a nice colour.	Bowl has a standard shape for a bowl of this type.	It's quite a thick bowl but it has a nice flow to it.	There is some evidence of tear out but overall finish looks good
Richard Peers	Nice piece of spalted wood used to make a 'pie dish'. The crenellation round the edge is very good.	The rim is quite thick, probably to support the crenellation.	Outside shape is a pleasant curve with a small foot around the mortise. Inside is also a good shape. Rim is maybe a little chunky.	Finish is good, no evidence of tool marks or tear out visible. Indentations are as well finished as the rest of the piece.
Jon Verrall (winner)	Brilliant use of the wood (hopefully intentionally) to represent a view of sand, sea and sky! Really simple format executed well	A picture to show the thickness would have been useful but overall the piece looks great. The inserts give a good contrast to the main body	Don't know if the wood was selected to produce the effect it does or if it is a happy accident that (for me) it looks like a painting of a shoreline, sea and sky, I think it was by design. Very pure design which works well and well executed.	Finish is very good with no obvious tool or sanding marks. The inserts fit very well and are a good contrast to the main body.
John Buck	Bowl made from Spalted Willow. Fairly standard rice bowl shape but with feet. Nice piece of wood. Can't determine if the feet are integral to the blank or stuck on afterwards.	Good thickness - appropriate to the overall size of the bowl. Ingenious if the feet are integral to the bowl.	Not sure the feet add anything but clever if they are part of the original blank.	Finish is good with no tear out or marks evident
Nick Laking	Very good impersonation of a Fabergé egg made from Spalted Silver Birch sitting on an ebonised (?) turned four-footed base with a gold leaf band separating the top and bottom halves.	The piece works as intended - an egg on a plinth. The shape is good and the band is correctly positioned. Colour choice and style of the plinth is good.	Shape works well and is well proportioned.	Generally a good finish to the egg and the base but let down by the gold leaf on the band. Appreciate that it is a skill to apply but the leaf is patchy and frayed at the edges which lets down the overall finish.
Neil Innes	Heavily spalted piece of birch presented as a bowl. Really interesting piece of wood with knots, voids and colour.	Shape is a little 'lumpy'; the thickness appears to be a bit inconsistent due probably to the composition of the blank.	Shape is basic with little embellishment. Nice that the edge has not been finished level giving a rustic look to the finished piece.	The wood is clearly very punky and probably influences the finish. Some tear out and tool marks can be seen which is understandable but overall the finish is appropriate for the piece.

Member

Image

Judges' Comments

Brief

Form

Function

Finish

Dave Matthews

Nice shaped pot using spalted wood with an Ebony (?) band and finial.

Finial fits in well. More pictures would have helped, e.g. is the band part of the lid or body? How does the lid sit on the body?

The band may be a bit thick compared to the delicate shape of the pot. Does the band really add to the piece? Overall shape has a good flow. An indication of size would have been useful - coffee mug sized?

Finish appears good throughout with no apparent tool or sanding marks. A nice piece of wood.

Mike Byrne

Natural edge bowl - the wood does not appear to be very spalted but has a nice colour.

Bowl has a standard shape for a bowl of this type.

It's quite a thick bowl but it has a nice flow to it.

There is some evidence of tear out but overall finish looks good

Richard Peers

Nice piece of spalted wood used to make a 'pie dish'. The crenellation round the edge is very good.

The rim is quite thick, probably to support the crenellation.

Outside shape is a pleasant curve with a small foot around the mortise. Inside is also a good shape. Rim is maybe a little chunky.

Finish is good, no evidence of tool marks or tear out visible. Indentations are as well finished as the rest of the piece.

Jon Verrall (winner)

Brilliant use of the wood (hopefully intentionally) to represent a view of sand, sea and sky! Really simple format executed well

A picture to show the thickness would have been useful but overall the piece looks great. The inserts give a good contrast to the main body

Don't know if the wood was selected to produce the effect it does or if it is a happy accident that (for me) it looks like a painting of a shoreline, sea and sky, I think it was by design. Very pure design which works well and well executed.

Finish is very good with no obvious tool or sanding marks. The inserts fit very well and are a good contrast to the main body.

John Buck

Bowl made from Spalted Willow. Fairly standard rice bowl shape but with feet. Nice piece of wood. Can't determine if the feet are integral to the blank or stuck on afterwards.

Good thickness - appropriate to the overall size of the bowl. Ingenious if the feet are integral to the bowl.

Not sure the feet add anything but clever if they are part of the original blank.

Finish is good with no tear out or marks evident

Nick Laking

Very good impersonation of a Fabergé egg made from Spalted Silver Birch sitting on an ebonised (?) turned four-footed base with a gold leaf band separating the top and bottom halves.

The piece works as intended - an egg on a plinth. The shape is good and the band is correctly positioned. Colour choice and style of the plinth is good.

Shape works well and is well proportioned.

Generally a good finish to the egg and the base but let down by the gold leaf on the band. Appreciate that it is a skill to apply but the leaf is patchy and frayed at the edges which lets down the overall finish.

Neil Innes

Heavily spalted piece of birch presented as a bowl. Really interesting piece of wood with knots, voids and colour.

Shape is a little 'lumpy'; the thickness appears to be a bit inconsistent due probably to the composition of the blank.

Shape is basic with little embellishment. Nice that the edge has not been finished level giving a rustic look to the finished piece.

The wood is clearly very punky and probably influences the finish. Some tear out and tool marks can be seen which is understandable but overall the finish is appropriate for the piece.