What do you make?
My craft is marquetry for unique pieces of furniture – screens, mirrors, cabinets and so on. I also do wall-panels. I’ve been a professional since 2000 and sell my work at selected craft fairs.
Tell us more about the process
I hand-cut all veneers. This lets each design evolve whilst I intuitively respond to all my many conventional as well as dyed and “reconstructed” veneers. I join shapes with veneer tape and the completed design has to be pressed. What sets my work apart is my geometric design – either bold and dramatic or subtle and sophisticated. Over time my designs have become more intricate/complex.
Fill in your background
I trained as a fine artist and then studied cabinetmaking and discovered veneers. I didn’t have any marquetry training but used them like paint to make wall-panels, or to decorate functional objects. A key moment was winning a “Setting-up Grant” from the Crafts Council. I bought my own eight ton press!
So what inspires you now?
Architecture, music, early 20th century art and design, Japanese design…
It doesn’t matter how tired I am after a day of sanding, when I see veneers thrown together on a tray, their grain and colour will tempt me to start a composition.
Where do you work?
Mostly undisturbed in a workshop in my home where I have a large cutting table. Letting a design evolve is a lengthy process. It’s not just cutting and taping but deliberating – I often work through a night. My press, compressor, sanding equipment, other machinery and enormous work surface are in my noisy workshop next to a joinery.
What next?
I’m dreaming of complex wall pieces in relief – I’d like to show them in a well-known gallery.
Advice?
You have to be patient …