February 2017

DRAGONFLY MARQUETRY

I did this marquetry piece within an course in my restoration studies. Marquetry, intarsia or inlay is a technique where you cut pieces of veneer and glue them on a background. I used curly birch as the background to imitate water. The dragonfly and the grass were made out of three different types of veneer. The shading on the veneer was done with dipping the small pieces in hot sand. The detailing on the wings were made by cutting thin crevices with a knife and filling them with a shellac compound. The veneers were applied the front, back and sides of a plywood board. Finally the piece was sanded and oiled. The marquetry piece is now decorating my windowsill.