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
(Click on image for picture viewer)

 "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  

              (Click on image for picture viewer)                       

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
(Click on image for picture viewer)

Nathaniel Stegall's Sustainable Prairie Furniture

Nathaniel Stegall 

Wisdom Furniture's founder / designer

Nathaniel Stegall

A Furniture Studio Based In Pretty Prairie, Kansas...

Wisdom Furniture’s distinctive sustainable furniture pieces reflect the unique background, convictions, and passions of designer and founder Nathaniel Stegall.

  

"We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future" -- G.B. Shaw

L. Hardy Stegall

L. Hardy Stegall

founder / artisan / dad

Wisdom Furniture arose as a result of founder and artisan Hardy Stegall’s love and respect for natural materials, and his skill as a precision craftsman.

Frank Lloyd Wright Inspired Marquetry

I've often wondered how the Prairie Style and spirit of Frank Lloyd Wright would manifest in marquetry. Now I have a good idea - kd

"Wisdom Furniture’s geometric marquetry designs are inspired in part by the art-glass windows of Frank Lloyd Wright and other Prairie-style architects and give our work a unique aesthetic quality."

"Wisdom Furniture"
(Click on images for picture viewer)

Cunard and David Linley Honor Queen Elizabeth with Marquetry Artwork

David Linley

Linley's Marquetry Artwork Commission 

Both David Linley and the marquetry traditions of Cunard's Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth ocean liners are on my blog post topics to-do list. I'm traveling with my family, thus short on time - here's the news, starting with the intro from Cunard's press release and ending with a passage from Sue Bryant's piece for Cruise Critic:

20 May 2010 - Yesterday, in Chelsea near London, Cunard Line unveiled the stunning centerpiece for the Grand Lobby of the Line's newest ship, Queen Elizabeth, debuting this fall. The artwork was specially commissioned to David Linley, son of the late Princess Margaret and the internationally famous photographer Lord Snowdon - and Her Majesty The Queen's only nephew - whose company specializes in the design and creation of fine furniture and marquetry. Linley's magnificent work shows the port bow of the original Queen Elizabeth seen dramatically from sea level, and is intricately executed using the technique of marquetry inlay with nine individual panels made of various types of wood veneers seamlessly jointed to lightweight board.

David Linley and Peter Shanks
(Click on images for picture viewer)

Cunard's Wow Factor 

Queen Elizabeth Art (May 20, 2010, 5 p.m. EDT) -- A fittingly royal touch for Cunard's new Queen Elizabeth was unveiled last night. 

The backdrop to the sweeping staircase descending into the 90,400-ton ship's magnificent Grand Lobby, the first area passengers see on boarding, is going to be an intricate marquetry panel, two and a half decks high, depicting the original Queen Elizabeth -- and designed by master wood craftsman David Linley.

Viscount Linley, whose clients include Oprah Winfrey and perfume magnate Jo Malone, trained in cabinet-making under John Makepeace and founded his design company, Linley, in 1985. He has gone on to become a huge international success, creating exquisite inlaid wooden furniture that comes with a hefty price tag; at the big reveal of the panel last night in Linley's spacious Belgravia showroom, journalists and Cunard executives awkwardly circled a £16,500 table, not quite knowing where to put their drinks down.

So what's the thinking behind the panel? Peter Shanks, president and managing director of Cunard, told the gathering last night: "We needed to fill that space with something which would not just be dramatic, a "wow" factor in an area already full of "wow," but which would also reflect our emphasis on traditional and sumptuous materials."

"Once we had decided on the theme and the medium, it didn't take us long to conclude that no one was better qualified for this detailed but monumental work than the company of the exceptional craftsman David Linley, whose creative ability and mastery of wood is renowned."

Artist's rendering of Art Deco Panel
(Click on images for picture viewer)

 Art Deco Panel in Marquetry
 

The panel is undeniably stunning and will make a superb backdrop for formal photographs. It'll be made of nine wooden veneers, including Indian ebony, American walnut, bird's eye maple and grey ripple sycamore. The finished product will be shipped to the Fincantieri shipyard at Monfalcone, Italy, where Queen Elizabeth is under construction, and assembled over a period of four days.

LINLEY's Chairman, David Linley, who founded the company in 1985, commented: 

"I recall my father saying the interior design of Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2 made one proud to be British, so I am hoping our achievement on the new Queen Elizabeth will make him -- and others -- equally proud."

As a result, Linley, a company specialising in the design and manufacture of fine furniture and marquetry was commissioned to design and make this stunning centrepiece at the heart of the ship. Work is currently under way, and the completed panel will be shipped during the summer to the Fincantieri shipyard at Monfalcone, Italy, where it will be installed over a period of four days to take pride of place just before the ship enters service in October.

Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel are Studio Job

Meet Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel

Nynke Tynagel and Job Smeets

Interview with Studio Job 

Studio Job website: http://www.studiojob.nl/

E mail:  office@studiojob.nl

About Studio Job

A quote from the Bavaria Collection catalog written by Jane Withers : 

"Graduates of the renowned Design Academy Eindhoven, the Netherlands, Job Smeets (b.1970, Belgium) and Nynke Tynagel (b. 1977, the Netherlands), who both live as well as work together, form Studio Job. Having met in 1996 in Eindhoven - she beginning her studies in graphic design and he having just graduated in three-dimensional design – Mr. Smeets proceeded to open Studio Job in 1998 in Antwerp, joined by Ms. Tynagel in 2000, following her graduation. Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel are Studio Job. The dutch couple started working together after graduating from Design Academy Eindhoven in 2000. In the beginning they were often criticised for their expressionistic symbolism, nowadays the designers are in great demand for the same reason. We met them in Milan where they presented the Farm collection, which plays homage to their Dutch homeland including stable tools found in farms such as milk pitchers, pails, spades, forks, cooking pots and frying pans cast in bronze; and their giant Globe for Swarovski's Crystal Palace."

Bavaria Collection

The Bavaria Collection was designed by Studio Job for Moss. 

Bavaria Collection catalog PDF: http://www.janewithers.com/pdfs/Bavaria-Miami-Catalog.pdf

'Bavaria' Collection

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