ARTISTS TALKING

# 13 [9 October 2007]

Fragmentation

I have been trying to use a technique known as fragmentation, involving tiny pieces of veneer. Cutting across the grain of the wood you can break strips into fragments which can then be packed into a space to create a sort of speckled effect. The idea really relates to traditional formal painting in the way it seems to be used- creating varying concentrations of colour and tone to a picture. Again with drawing this is about getting a material to do what typically a pencil can.

From what I have seen of it the most popular or common use of fragmentation is to create an effect of leaves in trees. Solving the problem of cutting individual leaves and allowing dyed veneers to be used alongside natural ones; fragmentation seems to be one of the more acceptable means of bringing unnatural colour to images.

I think there is potential for many things with this approach and I know that the methods are various and results wide ranging. Of the basic, general techniques of Marquetry this is one I am more intrigued by as it seems a lot more random than straight forward cutting. There is a little less control over the finished result, it is less precise, quite messy and strangely therapeutic. Slithering strands and breaking them up can take a long time, particularly getting the amount of fragments needed to make up a section. I think you can allow the mind to wander a little more whilst doing it. Also ramming the gritty little bits into a hole with lots of glue is enjoyable as is the anticipation of seeing the result.

It reminds me of pebble dashing, not something I've ever had the privilege of doing but it seems to have similarities on a different scale. Also as I seem to have various works and ideas underway at the moment the project itself is feeling pretty fragment.

# 12 [6 October 2007]

Rummaging

Rummaging through a couple of boxes of veneers held by the Staffs Marquetry group I came across lots of lovely looking things. Veneers are fairly inconsistent and I imagine it can take a long time to understand how to approach their selection. Some are very thick and tough to cut, others wafer thin and frighteningly delicate. Getting the right veneer for the job and it being reasonably easy to work with can be difficult. Often the most interesting veneers visually are the burrs which are typically knotty and coarse and a challenge for even the most practiced cutter.

I photographed some of the things I came across as it is hard to think about the visual diversity of the material when it isn't all in front of you. Some of the most attractive ones were very plain- hornbeam and horse chestnut; which are beautifully pure and white. I also like the fleshy pinkness of the pear. I wonder about connecting the association with a particular tree with what its timber actually looks like. Does the trees outer appearance correspond to what lies within?

Knowing what type of veneer each is can be pretty difficult and various library references can be referred to. This is very much like looking through a wooden deluxe catalogue which I quite like the idea of.

http://www.staffsmarq.freeserve.co.uk/misc/veneers.htm

# 11 [4 October 2007]

Piles

Working in the countryside has a lot to do with piles (not the complaint, but of materials) Piles of things are constantly being moved from one place to another, gathered, bundled together, harvested, moved, mown, stacked, un-stacked, restacked, spread about.

Wood features prominently, there is something very satisfying about a neatly stacked wood pile, chunks and slices of timber ready to be used when the cold comes. Equally a ramshackle and disordered pile of wood has its appeal, bits of timber left over from a past construction, rotting logs and old window frames all thrown together and looking for a use.

My shards of left over veneer reminded me of this. Sitting in little piles they were too good to throw away looking like a snapshot of a miniature timber yard.

I was also reminded of the frequent and horrific sight at art school of piles of boards and off cuts strewn in and around the college skip; leftovers of art making and exhibiting. The aftermath of the 8x4 and the continual cycle of waste.

# 10 [30 September 2007]

Folk Art

I've been thinking about this a bit as I came across this link http://www.tramp-art.com/folk_marquetry.htm . I'm not really sure whether there is a difference between Outsider art, folk art, tramp art or other definitions. I do think marquetry and this project have a relationship to it on several levels. Any amatuer craft could be deemed 'folk Art' I suppose although I wouldn't necessarily want to attach this label here. I do think a lack of artistic training can be used legitimately to differentiate artists but again that isn't that important really? How one approaches the craft and why is.

If a surge in craft movements was borne out of increasing Urbanisation and industrialisation this reaction is interesting. Artistic rules, academic traditions and aesthetics, would be progressing at an equally rapid rate, a rejection of which would automatically leave makers 'outside' of the progressive arts. A return to nature on the face of it denys the urban and the mechanisation of the industrial age.

There are inconsistencies though. Marquetry really draws on a global resource with materials originating from all over the world. Global development can be see to expand upon the craft with the introduction of all kinds of exotic materials for the artist to work with. In a way more than other art forms marquetry makes global connections in a way others don't. An accessible craft which potentially allows anyone the privilege of working with an enormous range of natural yet unfamiliar materials. I think this is worth thinking about.

Another thing that the lack of a formal training allows is more creative freedom. In understanding how those involved with marquetry work it is a lot of the time about the discovery of new techniques and methods. These can be shared and developed by others and I think it is this is what makes something like marquetry so interesting for those involved. There is a gentleman in the Staffordshire group who converted a sewing machine to cut veneer- a sort of concocted fret saw- this demonstrates wonderful creativity and invention which is what for me essentially defines so called 'folk Art'

# 9 [29 September 2007]

Collection of woody vocabulary and a literary reference

Lots of wonderful words and phrases jump out of thinking around wood. I mentioned the veneer metaphor before but more than this many words connect to trees and wood in their origins. i'll compile a little list...

Snedding, Barking, Snigged

Tug, Twigged, branching out, borker, janker, stumped,

Apparently Evelyn Waughs writing can be linked to marquetry, his interest in the craft being reflected in his intricately inlaid sub plots!

# 8 [24 September 2007]

Paper Cuts

One of the things Marquetry seems more akin to at the moment is the Art of paper cuts. This seems to have become quite trendy recently with Artists like Peter Callesen, Richard Sweeney and Jen Stark. The fragility of the material and the actual 'cut' itself as the critical action. Both techniques require precision and a slip of the blade could cause an irreversible error.

Peter Callesen particularly makes some interesting work both pictorial and sculptural. The varying scale in this work jumps from the standard A4 sheet to massive installations, the material proving no obstacle for the ideas. I saw the fairytale castle that the artist made in the 'Art and Enchanment' exhibition that toured to Walsall earlier this year. There wasn't much I found enchanting about the exhibition but I did enjoy the castle, cut and constructed from an enourmous sheet of paper, the cuts and holes exposed revealing the process of its construction.

Infact discarded pieces of veneer that have had pieces removed for pictures are fascinating to me. Perfect shapes hover in the middle of a carefully selected sheet, having provided a piece for a picture these incomplete sheets lie in wait for the next time they may be of use.

There are endless connections between paper and veneer- obviously products of wood. Also historically and culturally both among the most accessible and familiar of primitive art materials. Papercutting has its origins in East Asia- China and Japan where the craft is still very important- and reading of it's rural origins is interesting- like work with wood it has developed within the countryside and developed in a more sophisticated manner, transferred to the workshop as a higher form of art.

# 7 [20 September 2007]

Play with Parquetry

Parquetry is the use of geometric design in marquetry. Games boards and furniture typically finding use for the technique. I like the simplicity of making up chequered sheets. Slicing straight edges and worrying less about the holes in between joins.

I've tried to play about with this considering geometry in nature, using the monkey puzzle branch which is a beautiful object in itself.

# 6 [9 September 2007]

Notes about the woodworker

I've been trying in my mind to get to grips with wood and began to read 'Woodland Crafts in Britain' by Herbert Eldin. Putting into context the cultural importance wood Eldin outlines how many industries have unquestionably relied on wood and woodworkers over the centuries. This is sort of aside from a central discussion of marquetry but something I think is really important. As links to the countryside are imprtant to me anyway it made sense to see the connections made with rural life in this book. Tools, fuel and construction simply could not have existed without wood for so many traditional industries and rural operations. Everything began with the woodsman.

Only the day before photographing a tumble-down old farm cart this became more significant when looking at the relationship of woodman to wheelwright to farmer etc and similar chains all dependent on a source of wood. It seemsed quite apt to have been drawn to this relic of a woodworking age for this project.

It seems the old 'craft/ Art' debate re appears here again. Marquetry doesn't immediately sit easily as a 'woodland craft' owing to its less functional applications and associations with cabinet making and 'fine applied Arts'. Eldins book avoids these crafts and concentrates on those linked more to forestry, trade and agriculture and particularly woodworking that has been practiced in Britain but has now died out.

Eldins exploration however has a lot that I find I can link to Marquetry and which is both relevant and interesting. Primarily appreciating the versatility and rewards to be found in working with wood.

# 5 [6 September 2007]

I think veneer can make you think about trees in a different way, the patterns, deformaties, bug holes and knots. These qualities aren't just potential things of beauty but say alot more about the lives of the trees they came from. How the marks in the wood tell a tale about the growth and specifics of the situation in which the tree grew is quite incredible. Every inch growing in a different way with variable factors becoming literally ingrained within.

Taking these peculiarities for granted, looking at shapes and pattern not just for their potential as pieces of an unmade picture emphasises the life cycle of wood. How the material has a diversity beyond other materials becomes apparent the more a leaf of veneer is studied.

I'm not sure I like veneers being referred to as a palette though, I think because it seems too closely related to painting and seems a bit limiting. Nevertheless this 'palette' is full of endless possibilities and surprises which I find exciting.

# 4 [18 August 2007]

Notes on veneer

 I have been thinking about the qualities of veneer. As a metaphor it signifies a surface, a cover up, hidden depth under a fine layer. I like these associations and find it is interesting to think about them relation to how the material is used. The very flatness of veneer could be exploited more in Marquetry rather than being applied to another surface.

Traditionally being an alternative to inlay into a solid surface, Marquetry as a cover up acts as a playful 'trick' being easier to execute than inlaying itself. The use of Trompe-l'oeil seems to have grown from this- effectively being used in Marquetry a lot. The play between 2 and 3 dimensions seems a natural way to work with the technique because there is such a fine line between the two in this case.

I have been drawn to working in a playful way with some of my initial experiments. 

I find I am looking toward wood in general in my process, connecting the solid form to veneer. Refering to wood in the broadest sense seems important to begin to understand the material and how something so solid and imposing as a tree is reduced to such fragile sheets; and similarly how this then returns to be a 3D 'covering' after being worked.