Gregg Novosad, Divine Design - Marrying Technology with Creativity

Gregg Novosad

Gregg Novosad is combining an expertise in 21st century technology with a mastery of fine furniture making to explore new illustrative and expressive possibilities for marquetry and other forms of decorative veneering.

http://www.clickdivine.com/ 

Craftsman and Teacher

He has been published in Fine Woodworking, Woodwork and Woodworker's Journal magazines, and is listed in Wood magazine's "Gallery of Woodworking Greats." Gregg has won several awards, including the grand prize in the 2008 Veneer Tech's Craftsman Challenge.

Gregg teaches a couple of classes at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking:

• SketchUp Primer With Gregg Novosad

• Marrying Technology with Creativity: Divine Design with Gregg Novosad

 From: http://www.marcadams.com/instructors.php 

at Marc Adams School of Woodworking

Self-taught Woodworker
 

"I've been around woodworking since I was a child, watching my dad build cabinets in our garage with the simplest of tools. From that humble beginning, I went on a life-long journey evolving my skills as a self-taught woodworker--from building bars and stereo cabinets in college to ultimately running a woodworking company. After college I started a technology-consulting firm, where I gained an appreciation for a structured approach that incorporates employee skills development. After 14 years, I sold the business and intensified my woodworking journey."

Skills Development Plan

Gregg devised a personal skills development plan with a series of steps requiring core knowledge of a technique and a project to demonstrate that skill. He went from joinery, to turning, to wood bending, to shaping, finally to veneering. After building his first marquetry piece in 2005, he had an "aha!" moment that focused his attention on decorative veneering. "Marquetry gave me the perfect mix of creativity along with hands-on satisfaction of woodworking."

Tool Chest

Gregg Novosad's

Winning Tool Chest

Fine Woodworking's

Tool Chest Contest

July, 2009

Reading Pierre Ramond's Masterpieces of Marquetry gave him a clear vision of what he wanted to learn from the European master 'ebenistes' like Oben, Roentgen, and Linke.

The power of storytelling

One night, while watching Robert Redford describe the basics of a good story on the Sundance channel, Gregg reflected on how to apply this to decorative veneering. He created "storylining" for using basic storytelling techniques of character, conflict, and resolution in his marquetry designs. This, along with an infusion of wry humor, added a new dimension to his functional furniture art that could put a smile on people's faces.

He combined his experience in technology, design, and woodworking to create "Divine Design", a design configurator that customers can use to compose their own storylines over the web using customizable design components to create tables, countertops and door panels. He started "Studio Divine," for making one-of-a-kind artistic furniture and completely custom designs that can't be done via the "Divine Design" configurator.

Gregg Novosad, quoted from an article in WOOD magazine

Veneer Tech - Craftsman’s Challenge 2008

Novosad’s winning table “Clicker Control” contrasted the old and the new by placing a whimsical storyline on top of a classic egg-and-dart pattern. “Marquetry is often described as painting with wood, and 17 different veneers were used in my artist’s palette,” says Novosad. “My goal was to bring a smile to the viewer as they imagine their own ‘clicker control’ bliss.”

"Clicker Control" has an egg and dart motif inlay, but the characters in this story are mice. They don't like what is on TV, so one crosses out Cats on the TV guide and replaces it with Willard, while another grabs the remote control to change the channel.

What started out as something to satisfy his own creative urges has now become a budding business. "For those interested in buying my work," Greg explained, "I've created Divine Design. It allows you, as a customer, to go onto the website and choose the shape and size piece of the furniture, a pattern or motif, and a story line.

Initially, the motif options will be egg and dart, running coin, French ribbon and rococo, all classic styles. At that point, you can personalize the storyline with text, which will eventually influence the inlay on the piece.

Once you have what you want, you can order it and get it in about six weeks. A personalized version of Clicker Control, for instance, would cost about four thousand dollars. You could get anything from a simple marquetry panel in a kitchen to an entire piece of furniture. Hobby woodworkers can order one or more panels to include in their own building projects as well. The other side of the business, Studio Design, is where I express my own creativity."

Surprisingly, all this came about in a very short time, spawned by Greg's focused intent to teach himself the level of woodworking he decided he wanted to do. He approached it the same way he approached building a business: with organization and a plan in hand.