Max Krimmel - Newsletter Archive

I have added a section on woodturning to my web site. The new pages include plenty of How-To about my techniques of polychromatic turning, a gallery, and a history of my woodturning work. Currently featured in the woodturning section is MAKOWENAPLEGE because…

Once again I am delighted and honored (awestruck, astonished, amazed and frankly floored) to announce that I will have work shown at the Smithsonian Institution's Renwick Gallery, our country's premier venue for contemporary craft. This is the third time I have had the honor of showing at the Renwick. Those of you who have followed my career may remember the first time, in 1979, when one of two guitars in The Harmonious Craft: Musical Instruments of the 20th Century, was a Krimmel. Then, in 1999 my ALABASTER VESSEL #453 was acquired for the permanent collection and displayed for a year in the main gallery. Now, from March 15 - July 21, one of my woodturnings, MAKOWENAPLEGE will be included in the show Woodturning in North America since 1930. Guitars, woodturning and alabaster turning are the significant disciplines of my craft career. Now each of them to has made it to the Renwick.

MAKOWENAPLEGE, is an assemblage of hundreds of wood scraps from my guitar building business. It was made in 1986 and lent to the Smithsonian by Gary and Sylvia Bennett of Alameda, California. There are photographs and text documenting the construction of MAKOWENAPLEGE on my web site. Tauton Press included it the Fine Woodworking Design Book IV p. 121 (1987). Its historical and critical significance are established in the book accompanying the Wood Turning in North America show (from The Yale University Art Gallery and the Woodturning Center). I hope you will explore these opportunities to learn more about MAKOWENAPLEGE.

Following its run at the Smithsonian, Woodturning in North America since 1930 will travel to the Yale University Art Gallery (Sept 10 - Dec 1). A concurrent show at the Ellipse Art Center in Arlington, Virginia, Branching Out: Contemporary Wood Turning in 2002 will feature works for sale by many of the artists in the Smithsonian's show. At the Ellipse Center I will be showing VESSEL #107, a piece in the same style as MAKOWENAPLEGE. If you have a copy of the Fine Woodworking Design Book Five, VESSEL #107 is on page 83.

Bonnie and I are off to Washington DC again. This time for the re-opening of the remodeled Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). The piece I had in the Renwick Gallery (Vessel #453) has moved to this venue on indefinite display at the Luce Center for American Art.

I'm not sure of what sort of hoopla to expect. It's more about the refurbished building than what's in it or the artists. Chief Justice Roberts will probably say something. I'll report back in a few weeks.

addendum - As many of you know we did not make it to Washington due to a car wreck. Ours was the white van and we're still alive (seat belts and airbags everyone).

It's always a pleasure to be included in the works of a major museum. I can now add The Frick Collection in New York City to the list. The Frick was the residence of Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919) an industrialist who believed in collecting art and displaying it well. The residence was designed to hold his collection and eventually make it available to the public. The collection has expanded and now includes over 1,100 works of art from the Renaissance to the late 19th century.

In 2006 The Frick acquired a French clock The Dance of Time made in 1788 by the sculptor Clodion and the clock maker Lapaute. It sat on the mantle in the Fragonard Room on a faux stone socle (that's a base to those of us not versed in antiquarian vocabulary). The Fragonard Room was up for a major refurbishment and a proper stone socle was in order. They found me through my website, and commissioned the socle. The project is now finished, the room re-lit and repainted, with a beautiful socle of Colorado alabaster under the Clodion/Lapaute clock. You can see pictures of the process and the finished Fragonard Room here. I doubt the Frick will change this display anytime soon, so if you are in NYC…

You can also have one of my turnings for display on your own mantle. There is currently a good selection available for purchase on my website, or any of these fine Galleries:

Contemporary Crafts Museum - 724 NW Davis St, Portland, OR - (503-223-2654)
Del Mano Gallery - 11981 San Vicente Blvd, W. Los Angeles CA - (800-335-6266)
Wayne Art Center - 413 Maplewood Ave, Wayne PA (610-688-3553)
Toklat Gallery - 231 Midland Ave. #210, Basalt, CO (970-927-1437)
Wood Turning Center - 501 Vine St, Philadelphia PA (215) 923-8000

I'd be glad to help you select one, but I can't guarantee it will make your living room look like Mr. Frick's.

Part of the fun of an E-mail list is the replies I'll get from you - so tell me what you're up to.

This newsletter focuses on some selected works of the past few years. Every now and then I get it really right; an exceptional piece of stone with the best creative approach to it, and an exceptional piece gets made. Usually they are snapped up by a collector fairly quickly. But sometimes not, who knows why. Maybe my taste is just different. I like to think I have a good eye for these, after all I've seen them all. You can click on any picture for more detail.

Vessel #668 - 4" high x 7.5" diameter - $1,100

This is one of my early carved rim pieces. The pattern in the stone inspired the shape of the rim. Don't miss the link to the detail image on the page for this piece.

Vessel #672 - 4" high x 8.5" diameter - $1,000

This piece has a lovely selenite inclusion that makes it special. Selenite and alabaster are both crystallline forms of gypsum but the selenite is harder and tends to fracture. Frequently selenite makes a stone impossible to turn, but when I'm successful with it the results are extraordinary. There are detail images linked to the page for this piece.

Coring is great sport; It's the practice of removing the inside waste material as an intact and turnable piece of stone, rather than dust. The core can then be used to make matching smaller pieces. This trio piece was all turned from the same block of stone. The smallest piece was the core of the largest and the middle one came off the end of the largest piece. There is another example of a cored trio piece here.

Vessel #609 - 6.5" high x 15.5" diameter - $6,500

I bought this stone for the horizontal band of color that runs through it, and soon after realized that the color band was unstable all the way through. Shoot, another 300 lb. mistake. So the stone sat in the studio for quite some time until I couldn't stand to look at it any longer - either turn it or trash it - see what you get. Once the shape was rough turned I was even more attracted to the color and took every measure I could think of to keep it together. In the end I was successful.

Vessel #642 - 3" high x 4.5" diameter - $??? - you tell me

Speaking of cores, they pile up in the studio to the point of distraction. Eventually I round them up and make something out of them. Vessel #642 was a core out of a larger piece and it turned into a real beauty. It's also the special surprise mentioned in the title of this newsletter. It's on Ebay with no minimum bid! Check it out, the bidding closes on Nov. 12 at 10PM (MST)

Februrary 2009

Hearts - 2009 Edition

It's Valentine's Day, my favorite holiday. There are hearts everywhere - open your eyes and you will see them. A click on the image below will reveal the hearts in these pieces. Feel free to download a high resolution version and sneak it onto your sweethearts desktop.