Bottleneck Basket

This is a look into the opening showing the basket illusion on the inside.

Beautiful vessel David! I love the overall form and the interior embellishment. Really, everything is fantastic--nice work!

Wow David! I was impressed by the outside, then blown away with your pic of the inside! May I ask how you accomplished the basket design on the bottom of the inside?

Will Armstrong said:

Wow David! I was impressed by the outside, then blown away with your pic of the inside! May I ask how you accomplished the basket design on the bottom of the inside?

Click to expand...

Will, thanks for asking. In my studies of basket illusion I have seen some spectacular examples of the illusion being applied to the inside of a sizable vessel. What I saw was done on a segmented vessel and I imagine it was added as each one or two rings were added. I wanted to find a way to partially apply the technique to a non-segmented piece. Beading, burning, inking and painting can’t be done, to my knowledge, once the walls start closing in. Even doing it within an open sided bowl has limitations because the concave sides restrict some angles that aren’t an issue on the outside.

What I did was initially hollow the piece in a traditional way then separate the top from the bottom just below the widest part. Then I could finish the inside of the bottom as if it were a bowl and get it clean and smooth for basket illusion. What you see is all that I did inside (except for the three beads on the inside of the rim). I did the embellishment to completion then glued the top back on. After drying it was back to traditional hollowing to thin the joint area and clean the inside of the top area. Suspicious fingers might find the inside seam but I hope not. The bottom of the black bead on the outside hides that side of the seam.

The beading on the inside of the rim was cut with the lathe in reverse. The burning, inking and painting is constrained somewhat because of rim interference but it is manageable.

For a first attempt I am pleased with the outcome. The process wasn’t overwhelming or unreliable so it is worth applying again.

Thank you for your interest and compliments.

A wow from me too. The colors really strike me as a perfect grouping especially the Mesquite.

Hi David - fabulous southwestern design! Really like your "how I did it" description in earlier post - great work!