The Queen Elizabeth's Linley Marquetry Panel Is Installed

Date set for Queen Elizabeth's naming ceremony

Queen Elizabeth II

The 2.5 deck high marquetry art panel has been installed by LINLEY's craftsmen, as final preparations are being made for delivering the new Queen Elizabeth to Cunard. Cunard's newest ship will sail to her home port of Southhampton, arriving on Friday 8th October. On Monday 11th October, she will be named by her royal namesake Her Majesty The Queen in a grand quayside ceremony.

Second sea trials completed

Below is a photograph of the Queen Elizabeth during her second sea trials just outside of Trieste harbor.

Queen Elizabeth completes second sea trials
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LINLEY's photos of Art Deco marquetry panel being installed on Monday, September 13th, 2010

Art Deco marquetry panel just prior to Installation
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Queen Elizabeth Marquetry Art Panel Being Installed
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Click on the link below to see new photos of the installed panel

Marquetry Superyacht Installation Depicts Iconic Architecture

Howard Sansome announces the completion of ARYMA's latest superyacht installation 

ARYMA's Superyacht Installation
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I spoke with Howard Sansome, ARYMA's owner, just after he returned from the Royal Van Lent shipyards in Amsterdam, where the new yacht "Lady Christine IV" is currently docked while the interiors, designed and created by Rodney Black Design Studios, are being completed by Royal Van Lent and Feadship's joinery company Van der Loo. 

   

  The Taj Mahal

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"Our work is about visual impact and adding visual impact to interiors"

Detail of the Blue Mosque, Istanbul
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"We recently completed a project for a client's superyacht. I've just been supervising the final installation of several large marquetry panels." Explained Howard, "A high level of detail was the brief from the client. There are architectural, iconic buildings that everyone will recognize and just say - what, are you kidding me - that's made of wood?"

First Panel of Superyacht Set
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Central Panel of Superyacht Set
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Right Panel of Superyacht Set
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"Completing this set of large scale marquetry panels to such a high standard is an incredible achievement given the level of detail our client required. We are immensely proud of the part we have played in delivering this vision."

Lady Christine's front entry

Architectural wonders of the world triptych

Aaron Radelow - Modern Marquetry Master

Aaron demonstrates traditional marquetry cutting with the 'Chevalet'

Aaron K. Radelow has dedicated himself to becoming one of the most dynamic and versatile custom furniture makers in America today. For the past fifteen years, Aaron has been hand producing original designs and masterful re-creations in his native San Diego, California. The outsourcing of process steps, such as metalwork is limited to ensure that the style and method of design and construction is held to the very highest standards of quality - an aspect of his ethic that establishes him not only as a master craftsman, but also as an artist.

(Excerpted from the Aaron Radelow Custom Wood Design website - kd)

"If the day ever comes when my work may be categorized, that will be the day I start in search of something more challenging, for my ultimate goal is to be constantly evolving as an artist and by so doing bringing life to unique and emotive creations."

Aaron's Louis XIV Reading and Writing Tables surround the original in the Getty Museum
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 "To end up with a finished, polished piece of furniture, is, ah, how can I put it?" Radelow says, "Intense."

 

  Blue and White Reading and Writing Table  

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Here's a bit of information regarding Aaron Radelow:

Ligné Agency is honored to announce the addition of Aaron Radelow, a craftsman who specializes in wood work and inlay that has not been seen since the days of Boulle and Pierre Gole.  His work is nothing less than museum quality, handcrafted in the finest materials.  His work spans from antique restoration to full commissioned cabinets and writing desks.  Most notable are his Louis XIV writing tables that were created based on an original currently located in the Getty Museum.
Posted by Meredith Xavier, principal at Ligne Agency, on Wednesday, June 30, 2010.

Cube marquetry from Aaron's Contemporary Collection
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Status Of Cunard's Queen Elizabeth Marquetry Panel

The Cunard Queen Elizabeth foyer panel, designed by David Linley's design studio and produced by ACE Marquetry is now well under way.  

The Queen Elizabeth Marquetry Panel
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Claire Englefield, the person behind ACE Marquetry, told me that it was the largest single piece of marquetry that she and her team have ever produced. The size was such that they had to rearrange the workshop to erect a temporary table large enough to assemble it in one piece.

"The marquetry is now completed. We made the panel in one large piece. We cut it up yesterday (it's in roughly nine panels in the photo) and it's now being sent to another Linley associated studio. There it will be pressed onto a lightweight MDF, bonded with an ultralight metal Hexalite substrate, then sanded and polished. They will then take the panels over to Italy for fitting onto the ship before it's maiden voyage in October."

Assembling Marquetry On A Grand Scale
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Claire's business has grown steadily since 1986, when she started hand cutting marquetry for her husband Alan's furniture business [See Alan's remarkable boxes at LINLEY and on his web site at Alan Englefield Architectural Boxes].   She now runs two lasers with a team of four employees producing work for many furniture makers around Britain, with the occasional International piece. 

Alan Englefield - Architectural Boxes

Although most of her time is taken up by the managerial side of designing and fabricating marquetry commissions, she did get involved in the cutting and assembly of this prestigious piece herself.

Claire is very proud of her long standing association with David Linley and Co. and now produces almost all of the marquetry used on their excellent range of products, from a simple marquetry picture frame to the magnificent Cunard panel.  It shows her versatility, when the next piece to go through the workshop, after the 5.6m tall panel, was a small marquetry crest, no bigger than 60mm in diameter, with hundreds of pieces, some no bigger than a pin head.

Jeff Nelson's "Ocean Paradise" Marquetry

Jeffrey Alan Nelson

Jeff Nelson Composing

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Composing With Nature's Palette

Jeff's love for drawing and painting brought him to the San Francisco Art Institute in the mid 1970's, where he discovered his passion for the inlay arts. Jeff has been perfecting his signature style of marquetry artwork and furniture design since he began working with the art form in 1978. He has followed his passion for illustrating natural, architectural and imaginary forms ever since.

"Learning to ‘see’ in the palette of natural materials — hardwoods, shells and minerals is a discipline that takes time and patience to master" states Jeff, "It's a ‘whole being’ kind of involvement."

Ocean Paradise Artwork 

One of the most striking elements in Jeff Nelson's Ocean Paradise marquetry art panel is the rippling water that is rendered in an Aqua-dyed, figured Harewood.

"Honu" - Sea Turtle

"Honu" has been one of Jeff's favorite motif's since he composed his "Kauai Kingdom" piece after a trip to Kauai.

This 70" X 48" piece is mounted on an ultra-light honeycomb substrate, weighing only 45 pounds. These substrates are ultra-light yet very sturdy. They are being used by leading artists such as Yannick Chastang, studios like ARYMA and design firms like LINLEY. I will do a post on this emerging trend in the next few weeks. - kd

Parrot Fish with Paua Abalone

Design and Fabrication
Jeff introduced the prototype for his "Ocean Paradise" design at the Hospitality and Design Expo in Las Vegas last May. He will start producing them on a make-to-order basis this summer and, as is common practice among leading marquetry artists, will be able to design custom variations on this and other themes.

                                                           




                                            

"Ocean Paradise"
( 6' X 4' Marquetry Art Panel ) 

"Ocean Paradise" is the latest in a series of undersea artworks by this nature loving artist. You can follow this link to see two of his earlier pieces: the "Ocean Paradise" triptyche and "Kauai Kingdom".

ARYMA's Marquetry Domed Ceiling

ARYMA

Building something new and exciting with Anita Lear's marquetry legacy

I am looking at a memento  signed "Best wishes - Anita Marquetry - Anita Lear", from Live Oak Park in Berkeley, where I first met Anita Lear on June 12th, 2005. She had just transferred ownership of her marquetry studio, Anita Marquetry, to Howard Sansome, a young businessman with a love for art history. A long ways from home and the studio that she had founded back in Wales, she was gaining perspective on that episode and looking forward to seeing Howard build something new and exciting with her legacy. This is how Aryma came to be.




ARYMA's marquetry domed ceiling depicts indigenous birds and flora of the American Southwest

Excerpt from panel with Cardinal

My interview with Howard Sansome

Yesterday morning I spoke with Howard about this story and a couple of recently completed projects, including this domed entry with local birds, butterflies and flora for a client's Arizona residence. The other project, a large four panel marquetry art installation for a super yacht, has just reached the completion stage. Howard will be flying over to the shipyard next week to inspect the finished installation. He expects to have his client's permission to share his high resolution images of these remarkable works of art with MiArtStudio.com when he returns.

Excerpt from panel with Oreole
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I am looking forward to sharing the images for both of these remarkable projects with you. I will install a high resolution viewer at the MiArtStudio.com gallery and link to it from a post on this blog.

We also discussed what's coming up next for Aryma, one of just a few world-class art marquetry studios in the UK.


Follow this link to view more images of ARYMA's domed ceiling project: 

David J. Marks - Marquetry Innovator and Teacher

David J. Marks Designer Craftsman 

David J. Marks

Artist's Statement

 "My work expresses a sense of time and mystery. My inspiration is derived from a fusion of styles including ancient Egyptian, African, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Asian. But essential to all my designs is the attention I pay to fine details.
 After studying art at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, I moved to Santa Rosa and began working in cabinet and furniture shops during the 1970s. In 1981, I opened my own Santa Rosa studio and built one-of-a-kind furniture throughout the 1980s. In the 90s, my focus shifted towards wood turning and sculpture."Today, besides my continued work in fine woodworking, I am interested in 
 patination.The patina finish that is a trademark of my work, is a hybrid I’ve developed over the last decade. It combines painting, gilding (metal leafing), chemical patinas, and lacquering techniques. The complex layers result in something that gives the appearance of a faux, ancient, petrified stone quality."

Sculptural Inlay Art

Patternity's Marquetry Arrives with Hidden Art in Milan 2010

Grace Winteringham presents her Phase Bureau with Hidden Art in Milan 2010

Detail: Phase pattern on central leaf and Grace Winteringham
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Father and Daughter Collaboration

A quick nod to this lovely Father and Daughter collaboration highlighted in my earlier Toby Winteringham and Patternity post. The new images and quotes come from a May 14th, 2010 post at Purewhite - Designs by Kirsty White: 

"The collaboration with daughter, Grace, has borne fruit. Her company, Patternity, has been selected by Hidden Art to go to Salone Satellite 2010 in Milan."

"The Phase pattern used in the range explores traditional marquetry craft revisited – true to the technique, the design represents the transitions between cutting out and replacing in, combining old with new, bold with neutral.

I think it was really refreshing to see a traditional technique using contemporary pattern and colour."

Here are the designers and Hidden Art team

at Hidden Art Milan 2010... the fab 5

To view all Purewhyte products please visit the website www.purewhyte.com 

For Patternity, visit www.patternity.co.uk