Dennis W. Montville

Artist, woodturner and builder of woodturning solutions

Sterling Heights, MI

email:  Dennis@DWMontville.com 
 

Artist Statement

"Wood is one of the most expressive fundamental elements on earth. Once part of a living organism, it still expresses the echoes of that life captured within its fibers. This is the "voice" of the material. Engineering is the "voice" that humankind uses to express itself with works of visual and functional presence. My work combines both voices to create a harmony of natural and man-made beauty"

 

I've added a new page to my site. This will be a log page that I'll try to update on a regular basis. Of course a true log page will  be updated every day, but I can't say that I'll be able to do that. Oh, I may try, but I don't know if I'll be able to keep it up. For now, enjoy what I have posted now and check back occasionally to see what updates I manage to get out.

April Log Page
 

Update: August 11, 2010
 If you found my site from my YouTube videos you'll find listings for my tools and tool hardware on my Available Tools page. The tool hardware I currently have available is listed there, and you can purchase them from me directly by sending me an email at Dennis@DWMontville.com, or you can click and buy them from my Etsy ads.

Update: August 9, 2010
 I got the Etsy listings up and running. You can see my shop by clicking on
 MY ETSY SHOP.

Update: August 8, 2010

For those that might be interested I'm out of the nickel plated micro tool hardware kits, so you'll have to wait until I can make more up. I still have a few of the standard size in nickel, but once they're gone it will be a while until I can make more.
I'm planning on doing some work this weekend, including putting some work on Etsy. I'll post the link if I get that done. I need to move some pieces just to motivate myself and to make room around the house. I've also added a new page to the site, Available Tools, which will include the tool hardware and kits and new completed tools when I have them available.

Update: July 27, 2010

I have been very bad about updating my site. I'm sorry. My life is in such a shambles that I'm happy to still be kicking. I really do intend to update the entire site soon, but events keep conspiring against me. This weekend (July 30) I'll be driving back into Michigan to take care of things at home and then scamper back to Columbus, IN. Such is my life at this time. But I know better than to really complain, since having is job anywhere is much better than not having a job. Sometimes I just need to keep chanting that to myself to remember.
I'm not posting anything new on the site today, so don't bother looking for fresh things this time. This is bothering me, but I have more important things to take care of at the moment. Please stay with me and if you wish, send me some requests. Knowing that someone wants an update might make it easier to remember when I get home after work.
 

Just to be clear, I don't have anything listed on eBay or Etsy at this time. That's because I don't know when I'll be in town and able to ship. Therefore, if you're interested in something just send me an email and I'll tell you when I'll be back home. That way I can also send you an invoice so that you'll know the total with shipping.

I stayed in Columbus, Indiana this weekend (April 10-11) and got my apartment arranged into a much more livable space. I also created a new MP3 called Sonic Breadbox. I hope you enjoy it.

About  My Tools Tool Hardware Available Items
____________
Available Tools
Link to Sonic Discordance, my "other" web site under construction Classes Arrowmont

 

I've posted several videos on YouTube. Click the link you just read past to see them. I've taken the ones I had on the site page off because they work much better through YouTube.

 

New piece completed before I started my new job.

Here is a new piece I just completed called
 "Tethered Waves". This is the direction I'm taking in many of my new pieces. It is made of soft maple and measures just under 6 inches in diameter by about 2 3/4 inches tall. This is currently not offered for sale but I'm sure that will change.


 

New things have been added to the Available Items page.

I've made two slideshows of the AAW Symposium Instant Gallery. Here they are:
Slideshow #1
Slideshow #2

After getting back from the Ohio Valley Woodturner's Guild symposium, Turning 2009, I assembled a photo page from photos I took of the instant gallery and silent auction items. The page is link is here at

 OVWG Photos.

Don't forget to return to this page and check out the rest of the site when you're done. Remember, all photos will expand to large images by just clicking on them. Then just close the large photo page to continue viewing the rest of the photos. Let me know if anything doesn't work right so that I can fix it.


I made a new site page called
 
Our Town 2009
that includes photos of my entries to that show. Remember, every photo will expand to a larger image if you click on it.  

 My new Available Items link takes you to items I currently have for sale.

 

Scroll all the way down the page to the end to see photos of a lamp that was commissioned by a friend for his father. The story of that lamp is included. Sometimes it's very interesting how life can work out.

 

 


Artist's Statement:

 


 


 NEW WORK

Below are photos of the some recent work. Some of these are entered into shows and are not yet available for sale. Others are already sold. I'll keep you posted on shows that I've been accepted in. As work becomes available for sale I'll be updating the Available Pieces page.

I call this piece "Intrusion"
It is made of black walnut, maple, purpleheart and oak. It measures 8 3/4 inches in diameter by 5 inches tall.

Sold

Artist Statement: An intrusion is usually considered to be a bad thing. But here the intrusion adds character, beauty and strength. Don’t always think of an intrusion as a negative. Give it time to show itself. You may be surprised and pleased.

                             
This one is called "Life Menu"
This one is made of Narra and measures 5 inches in diameter by 1 3/4 inches tall. It is the same piece I show being faced off in the upper right video above. It's come a long way, hasn't it?

Available

Artist Statement: When life presents choices you might consider all options in detail, giving careful consideration to every aspect. So many shapes and designs. How do you decide? Who ever said that you couldn’t choose them all? Take all that life has to offer.

Here is "Eclipse"
This one is made of chechen, bubinga, oak, maple and narra with veneers. It measures 9 inches in diameter by 5 inches tall.

Artist Statement: An eclipse is an exciting event. This piece captures some of that excitement with it's design and presentation. But it's the hidden feature seen when held to the light that truly captures the glow of the real thing.

"Black Tundra"
This one is made of black locust with piercing. It measures 7 inches in diameter by 4 1/2 inches tall.

Artist Statement: It was simply cold outside while I worked on this. The tundra came to mind, along with the black from the wood name. I incorporated black as a contrast to the void of piercings. The contradiction of a black tundra seem appropriate.

"Earth Wake"
This one is made of mahogany, Brazilian cherry and veneer. It measures 9 1/2 inches in diameter by 2 1/2 inches tall.

Artist Statement: As the earth spins it affects the space around it. I attempted to capture that feeling with this piece.

 
     

 

Here's the piece I just finished on Christmas Eve, 2009. This is going to be a gift to the neighbors across the street from my dad. They take care of him and involve him in their life so much that I'm lucky for their concern and care.
 
This is a piece of elm that was turned thin and then I used pyrography and acrylics to produce the detail areas you see here. It measures about 6 1/4 inches in diameter and is about 3 inches tall.

Click on any photo to see a full-sized image in a new window.

Below are photos of the lamp I made for a client out of a prototype GM rotary engine cylinder and piston.

 

The Story Behind This Lamp

A good friend of mine is Mike Paradise. He is the Media Coordinator at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI. Back in the 70's I worked at the General Motors Tech Center. While there I had a friend that worked on the rotary engine development program and used to talk about his vacation home on Grand Cayman Island. I was working as a technician and did emissions tests on that engine with him. That guy was Mike Paradise's father, Bob Paradise. Flash-forward to today and a conversation that Mike and I had where he mentioned that a lamp that had been started as a retirement gift for his dad was never completed. It was to be made from a rotary engine block section and piston. This conversation was after my dad fell and broke his neck, which got Mike to think how fleeting life can be and made him wish he could finish that lamp while his father was still alive. I told him I'd like to do that for him and so he brought it in, along with the emblem that was made for the car that never actually got built. What you see in the photos is the completed lamp made with those parts. The shade frame is to be covered with some sort of material yet to be decided on. Mike wants to get that done himself so I just designed and made the frame. The only things Mike gave me was the metal parts of the engine and the shiny emblem. The base is from a larger board of curly bubinga. You should see it in person. It's really hard to get a truly good photo of it, but it has a lot of character. The small teardrop-shaped element that holds the emblem is reminiscent of 50's and 60's vintage futuristic designs from GM.