| Project by shipwright | posted 155 days ago | 1609 views | 16 times favorited | 62 comments |  |
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My wife asked me to make her a tray for her birthday ….. with a chickadee on a branch. This is in my mind at least a very overworked theme in marquetry but I agreed to give it a shot. I at least wanted it to look lifelike so I started a search of images on Google where I found this one.
I imported it to inkscape, did a nice tracing, retooling the branch for artistic effect, and added a few other branches and some faint terrain and sky to fill out the area. “How do you like this?” I asked, proudly showing her my drawing. ” I like the bird” she said, ” but lose the other branches and the landscape. All I want is a bird on a branch.” “As you wish my dear.” I said (or some fairly similar expression) .........and so just a bird on a branch it became. When all is said and done I have to admit (begrudgingly) that in this case at least, less may have actually been more. I quite like the little guys.
The marquetry is quite simple as the pieces are larger than what I’ve been doing lately so I decided to cut them in classic style and get a few extras, after all you don’t have much more cutting to do … and it is a bit more challenging. The marquetry itself was done quite quickly. What took me way too much time was the silly idea of having round inside corners. I guess it looks nice but it presented a new problem (opportunity) at every stage.
The veneers in the backgrounds are mostly maple in one figure or another plus a piece of what I’m guessing is a burl-ish redwood. The marquetry veneers are ipe, holly, fir, oak and the redwood for one branch. Two of them have legs like my music motif tray and the other two sit right down on their bases.
All cutting was done on my Green Valley chevalet, the first one I built (and maybe still my favorite).
....... boy, that shop looks uncluttered. I’ve added a lot to the little six foot square marquetry shop since this photo.
Thanks for looking in.
Questions, comments and critiques are always welcome…................. Merry Christmas!!
Paul
-- Paul M ..............If God wanted us to have fiberglass boats he would have given us fiberglass trees. http://prmdesigns.com/
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62 comments so far
SPalm
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4108 posts in 2051 days
#1 posted 155 days ago
Your wife has taste. The simple bird shows quite nicely. But simple it ain’t, you did remarkable work on these. They look great.
Too bad you did not have sharp inside corners, they would have looked better. (Just kidding)
Merry Christmas. Enjoy the warm weather.
Steve
-- -- I'm no rocket surgeon
Frank Strazza
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9 posts in 735 days
#2 posted 155 days ago
Paul nice work as always!
How did you get that shading on the overall body of the bird, in the white part? Is that the wood?
Greg The Cajun Box Sculptor
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3775 posts in 1477 days
#3 posted 155 days ago
Looks very good to me Paul…and your wife has to be extrremely happy with the results.
-- Every step of any project should be considered your masterpiece if you want the finished product to reflect the quality of your work. http://www.FineArtBoxes.com
grizzman
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5384 posts in 1472 days
#4 posted 155 days ago
these are really quite nice, beautiful in fact, your wife is one lucky lady, ask and it appears…all of them are really nice but i really like the one that looks quilted…
-- GRIZZMAN ...[''''']
grizzman
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5384 posts in 1472 days
#5 posted 155 days ago
oh and please tell your wife i said happy birthday..
-- GRIZZMAN ...[''''']
Woodenwizard
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846 posts in 1223 days
#6 posted 155 days ago
Another great project. I always appreciate your sharing.
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!
-- John, Colorado's (Wooden Wizard)
Karson
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34370 posts in 2569 days
#7 posted 155 days ago
Beautiful job, and a smart move to follow her directions.
-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
rustynails
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355 posts in 697 days
#8 posted 155 days ago
Paul you know what they say “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” or in this case 4 trays….... Well done.
gbear
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328 posts in 2268 days
#9 posted 155 days ago
You obviously have a lot of talent when it comes to marquetry…and…when it comes to keeping a happy home!!
-- gbear, Carmichael, CA
a1Jim
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87141 posts in 1746 days
#10 posted 155 days ago
Wow Paul
These are amazing ,they look like they could fly off the tray. I wish I could look at these everyday.
-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/
gfadvm
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6635 posts in 859 days
#11 posted 155 days ago
Paul, Another amazing set of projects from the master. That bird looks alive and I like the single branch design. All of your stuff is so perfect. I never see even a tiny flaw!
-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm
WoodenFrog
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2351 posts in 1082 days
#12 posted 155 days ago
Your Work Is Amazing!! Can’t get enough of it!
-- Robert B. Sabina, Ohio.....
tinnman65
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897 posts in 1583 days
#13 posted 155 days ago
Beautiful work Paul. I really like the pine cones on the sides, they add a nice touch. One nice thing for your wife is that when she asks for something with marquetry on it there’s a good chance she’ll get four!
-- Paul--- Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. — Scott Adams
Jim Jakosh
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7280 posts in 1274 days
#14 posted 155 days ago
WOW!!!!!!! those are amazing, Paul. just beautiful work. Your wife is so lucky to have you create such beautiful things for her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.............Jim
-- Jim Jakosh.....Practical Wood Products...........Learn something new every day!!
DocSavage45
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2871 posts in 1011 days
#15 posted 155 days ago
Paul,
Ya did good, and I’m sure the customer was pleased!
-- Cau Haus Designs, Thomas J. Tieffenbacher
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