Turnings can be artistic, functional or a little of both. Most of my turnings are artistic.
When I turn a piece of wood I do not generally do a lot of planning. Once I have made the chunk of wood round, I try to emphasize its natural beauty.
I started woodturning with steel tools in 2003. The lathe I used when I started was a Grizzly G1067Z. In 2007 I upgraded to a 2436 OneWay with a 60″ bed extension and an outboard turning attachment.