ARTISTS TALKING

# 33 [24 January 2008]

Quilting for men

I read this definition yesterday and found it quite funny. 'Male Quilting' was a term applied to Marquetry after labour intensive woodworking had become less in demand and relegated to folk art status. Hobbyist work was seen to have a similar relationship to quilting and stitch work.

I thought a bit about this earlier in the project, that Marquetry seems a male dominated craft. The intricacy and detail does have a lot in common with needle work though so the link made in this description makes sense. Quilting seems an obsessive hobby, requiring patience as well as creativity- much as marquetry does.

I don't know much about quilting but historically it was something that required many hours of work. Huge pieces produced by women over many years and continued through subsequent generations, all by hand.

 Working delicate pieces of veneer is like working with fabric in many ways, creating joins and fusing materials together.

# 32 [21 January 2008]

wood in the news

I have been enjoying the coverage of the timber washed up on the sussex shore. There are some amazing pictures of it on the net. Waves of wood which look like tiny matchsticks.

I wonder about the attention it has provoked. Would a public art installation of a similar affect have attracted the masses? Extraordinary alterations to familiar places are more acceptable or appreciated if they are accidental or natural.

Anyway, its a pretty spectacular display of wood.

# 31 [12 January 2008]

Oysters 

Things here are continuing with other stuff going on too. 

 Before Christmas I had dropped into the staffs Marquetry group to see if they had any ideas about Oysters…..Not the fishy type in shells but the Marquetry technique or effect that shares the same name. I found a definition that might clarify this a bit 

‘Veneers cut across the grain of small branches of trees such as walnut, olive and laburnum, and laid decoratively. Popular circa 1700’

 Basically these slices of branches can be assembled to form patterned sheets, which have an appearance similar to an oyster shell.  To buy, these veneers are expensive and they often feature on antique furniture rather than being used for pictures. I like the idea of using the slices of twigs in some way and wanted to produce some of my own. I was introduced to a razor saw, a very dainty tool with many fine teeth for cutting and a thin blade, essential to attempting to cut anything to veneer thickness.

 By lucky coincidence I had a couple of twigs with me and was able to produce some little oysters quite nicely. So this has given me some other things to think about. Without a lot of equipment creating sheets of veneer would be a fairly impossible task so this feels like a scaled down version, a way of working with a piece of wood from scratch.  

Christmas brought this shiny looking razor saw too and a good opportunity for making use of the tree once it had done its job. I am still in the process of stretching its creative potential. 

# 30 [21 December 2007]

Merry Christmas

Cold and Christmas slowing things down, hope to get things in order come next year.

# 29 [10 December 2007]

Drawing an Illusion

I was quite excited when I stumbled across Susan Collis's work. She is using Marquetry in her work in a way I had been leaning towards and after my initial reaction of ‘oh that's a bit annoying she's done what I wanted to do' I identify the differences in her approach as well as similarities. So I got over that and have become more interested in her work and where she is coming from.

Collis uses (amongst other things) Marquetry/ inlay techniques to create the illusion of marks on surfaces such as chairs, walls, floors. The imperfections are highlighted in things through their replication in precious materials such as gold, pearls and gem stones. So a reference to very early marquetry which was more about inlaying precious materials into wood (rather than being confined to veneer) is apparent.

Drawing seems essential to Collis's work which is a lot about mark making. Importantly though acknowledging a sense of time and labour is something the work communicates too. Craftsmen working several centuries ago (16-1800's) invested unbelievable amounts of time to single pieces. Working on incredibly intricate designs for extravagant furniture this kind of craftsmanship is virtually unheard of today. Collis's subtly marked work tables, step ladders and overalls highlights the investments made to the art making process the values placed upon this and the objects themselves.

I think importantly the illusion is not created as an end in itself unlike more traditional uses of marquetry trickery, which are easy to move on from once you get the joke. There is a lot more beyond the surface of things.

Collis is showing at the V and A in a very slick looking craft exhibition.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1637_outoftheordinary/artists_detail.php?artistTag=collis

Anyway I'd cut this tea stain mark that I've been trying to photograph on a dry day and I got around to it at last.

# 28 [5 December 2007]

Cardboard Inlay

Inlaying veneer has led me to creating some pieces using other materials. I have been producing some work in cardboard, mainly cereal packaging using their visuals to make little pictures. Using the window method similar to that with ‘normal' marquetry I am finding this quite enjoyable.

The images I am lifting are in various forms representations of the nature and farming and seem relevant my way of working and interests. I'm not entirely sure where these are going but are allowing me to think in some different directions whilst making connections and references to other areas of my own work. I am finding that making a link between other materials and the experience of working with these using a specific technique helps with things.

# 27 [3 December 2007]

Some thoughts and ideas

I am continuing with some of smaller works, some outdoor experiments (weather permitting, rained off today) and applying some techniques to cardboard.

Feels like I have fingers in lots of pies which is good but keeps me distracted from completing things. Having given myself such an open brief I maybe need to hone in on certain areas rather than trying to maintain every possible angle? The difficulty with this is that I don't feel I know enough about anything to start making those kinds of decisions. Playing about seems more appropriate when I seem so easily distracted.

Research is also hard, just in the sense that I feel it hasn't got started even though it has, there is such a lot to think about, views to consider and traditions, what exactly am I researching? I guess research never becomes more than snippets of information when writing in this way because there isn't enough room to write at great length. Also I wonder whether anyone reads this? And sometimes even if I want anyone to?

# 26 [29 November 2007]

A few notes on drawing

As the title of the project implicates drawing into this I feel I should make a few connections here. Like craft, drawing is an expansive subject, especially now as digital work has opened up a whole new set of possibilities. It also seems to ask some of the same questions that have occurred whilst thinking about craft in considering it's relevance to today's visual art.

How useful is it and how is it defined?

Marquetry is definitely a lot to do with marks, not just mark making but found marks, exploiting lines and tones that occur naturally in the grain. Part of the skill and invention in marquetry is being able to use these marks, to make similar choices about line, tone and texture that are fundamental to any traditional drawing practice.

The mimicry of a surface, form or volume is a key link in Marquetry as a method of drawing. There are certain veneers that resemble surfaces so accurately that they become a sort of standard key to many images. So things like water, hair, silk can be found in likeness to certain veneers and used within representational picture making.  The consistency of marks to be found within certain types of veneer can influence the idea and perhaps this is why traditional subject matter can sometimes be repetitive?

The linking of a real surface or material to a veneer as a starting point to a piece of work is very important to understanding of the attraction of marquetry.

# 25 [21 November 2007]

Woody Miller

One of the main pictures I have been working on is taking me ages. Partly because the veneer is very fragile and sliqhtly warped. As well as this I am using a lot of fragmentation in the picture which means lots of tiny shards need to be cut which although a speedy process compared to some aspects of marquetry- I seem to be taking a long time.

A member of the staffordshire group uses a pepper mill to grind his bits of veneer for similar purposes. I thought I would give this a go too so have bought a pepper mill that I will load up with veneer shards and have a try. I like this improvisation of a tool like this, so simple and logical.

# 24 [13 November 2007]

Urban Field

A symposium dedicated to contemporary craft practice is to be held this week in Surrey. Discussing rural and Urban crafts the content looks very good with some interesting speakers contributing. I am interested to note that Dr Ian Hunter of the Littoral Arts trust will be contributing as he has been very involved with an art that engages with agriculture. His talk promises to cover an argument from a more unusual perspective

'I want to argue that we need radically to rethink current crafts practice and policy in this country, and bypass its current preoccupation with gaining credibility in the art world and also to wean it of its fixation with the unsustainable high-end designer/consumer market ethos; and seek new ways of realigning the critical energies, core traditions and inventiveness of contemporary craft practice with some of the strategic programmes now being proposed by governments, NGOs and communities world-wide to tackle the impact of climate change, depletion of fossil fuel stocks, rural development and agricultural change and environmental sustainability'

As I only found out about this today I won't be going but will try to follow the outcomes. I think it is important to note the 'Pre-occupation' mentioned above, of craft gaining credibility in the art world. I think it is very true that this is unsustainable but perhaps the only way some makers feel they gain critical and artistic recognition. The relationship this has to the Art world being almost exclusively urban does inform this mindset so I wonder what alternatives will be proposed? not just for craft but in general this is an important issue.

where Marquetry fits with all of this I am not sure? but In talking about urban and rural think it falls between a definition of the two.

Not rustic enough to be a truely rural craft yet engaged enough with a natrual material that it can't be entirely seperated from the countryside. At the same time there is a certain finesse to Marquetry that does feel more urban and in touch with some sort of fine art world.

www.urbanfield.org.uk/thesymposium.html