Selecting an Image that Inspires Growth in the Craft
Contributed by Fred Schmidt:
My biggest step forward on my marquetry path was choosing graphic images of people. After continual nagging by Dave Kisker to, “cut wood, cut wood.” I chose a simple image that was long on cutting, but not too complicated. This had several woods involved centered around a negative space image with a background, the stringers, and the border. It was genuinely where I thought I needed to be, but because I liked the outcome so much it pushed me to find another portrait image. Prior to this picture I wasn’t excited about a lot of marquetry projects (flowers, birds, landscapes, etc.) and frankly was overwhelmed by what others were doing. Nothing really spoke to me until this graphic image of people grabbed a hold of me. All I wanted to do was get better at my cutting technique and learn more about doing other forms of marquetry from that point.
The second and third pieces I completed were images of Charlie Chaplin. Charlie #1 was a light background and dark wood to create the face outline along with the stringers and a border. With Charlie #2, I decided to use color dyed woods and increase the number of other natural woods, along with the increased difficulty of cutting that image required. I was trying to push myself a little further.
The next graphic image was of the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia which was to be a birthday present to my “Dead head” son. The image was more complex to cut with sand shading and a radial veneer patternbehind Jerry’s face. I thought it turned out well, it increased my confidence level. My son loved it and hung it on a prominent wall in his house.
After this and feeling like I needed to push my boundaries in difficulty even further, I found and
decided to do a portrait of Amy Winehouse. She was a highly talented British singer who died at 27 years old of alcohol poisoning. In this one I used a larger number of different natural and color dyed woods with a tighter, more finite cutting necessary; I believe it is the best work I have done to date. It was also around this point that my wife looked at me as I was working on my next project and said, “you see dead people”. A very funny, yet apparently true, characterization.
Finally I completed another “dead guy” image, that of Marlon Brando, the Godfather. This image was straightforward and very dramatic which I tried to capitalize on by using a built-up epoxy
poured finish. The dark toned woods, white shirt, and a simple, single red rose really brought home the mood I was trying to convey.
All of my “dead people” work has increased my knowledge and skill level and finally made it possible to produce works that are sale worthy. This has always been a goal of mine to be good enough in my picture making work that it would become sale quality whether I choose to sell it or not.
