Dennis W. Montville custom woodturning tools and art

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"

You can see what I have on eBay by clicking on:
MY eBay Store

You can see my Etsy shop by clicking on:
MY ETSY SHOP.

Artistic Turnings Available Tool Hardware
Information Available Tools
and hardware kits About My Tools See my videos here at my
YouTube channel Link to Sonic Discordance, my "other" web site under construction

Update: February 5, 2012

I've just finished two new jewelry items. They are listed in my Etsy store. Here are some photos:

I've also finished that bowl I mentioned in my last update with the thin section. I'm happy to report it came out as I had envisioned it. Here are some views:

I also have a YouTube video of it that show it very nicely. Just click HERE.

I'm staying busy with new work and some welcome commissions. I hope to have another update soon.

Update: January 12, 2012

2012!! I never thought I'd make it this far. Well, since I did I guess I'd better get busy. Remember, the World will end this December. So buy that Rolls Royce around October and enjoy it for a few months. They'll never have time to repossess it. Let me know how that works out for you.

I have been very busy lately. The woodturning is going a bit slowly but other things are keeping me hopping. I have a new bowl with an extremely thin section running straight through it from side to side that I'll be posting here in a couple of days, provided I don't mess it up. I'm concerned every time I pick it up to work on it. No kidding, that section is about the thickness of a potato chip. You'll see what I mean later.

I'm enjoying this Winter without snow here in Michigan. However, I know the "payback" will come. My snow removal guy has a broken truck and can't get it repaired so now I'm searching for a plow guy to hire for the inevitable storms to come. If you know of a good one send them my way.

Update: October 27, 2011

I just released a new product today. You can see it on my Available Tools page. It is a kit of tall Cole jaw grippers to use with Nova and other scroll chucks. Here are a couple of photos of them:

These can really work well when you have a bowl with a rolled-over lip that you want to turn the base on. Check them out.

Update: October 23, 2011

Some good news, some "not-so-good" news. Good news....I sold all 3 pieces that I entered into the Our Town show in Birmingham, MI! I am thrilled. If only I had done as well at the Festival of the Senses show, where I had to set up a tent for two days. I guess you never know where a show will go for you. My "sorta" bad news is that my main PC computer went PHRITZ! one day while I was working on it, so now I'm relegated to my ancient Pentium 4 tower until I get the other one repaired. So I'm updating this on my old FrontPage software. I hope it comes out okay.

I'm making some new tools and artwork. I just listed two new laminated spindle blanks on Etsy. Check out my Etsy store to find them. I don't have them on my Available Turnings page.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.