Bringing leather & wood together
Alton Bowman, marquetry table top detail
During my trip to Texas in March I stopped to visit furniture conservator Alton Bowman. Alton and I met at the Ebinist conference in Amsterdam last fall where he was presenting on his use of CNC routers in marquetry. It was wonderful to see in person the piece he had spoken about (right) and fill several of my gaps in the history of marquetry.
(Coincidentally, Alton and I both started off as painters at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, though a couple of decades apart.)
From wood to leather: my article on leather laser-cutting techniques, Where the Laser Meets the Leather, was published in leather manufactures' J Hewit & Sons Ltd online publication, Skin Deep. Many thanks to David Lanning for asking me to contribute. The article explores a wide range of laser-cutting techniques for leather and parchment, including leather marquetry, pierced parchment, and leather embossing. Read the article, here.
In this short and sweet article, I share with you a few marquetry samples in leather, wood, and parchment inspired by a studio visit and my aforementioned article on laser cutting leather. Enjoy!
Base wood was engraved at two depths for the maple and leather inlay.
Leather and maple inlay.
Leather, calfskin parchment, and wood veneer. While it may be difficult to see in this picture, the parchment is mottled in color and texture because it came from a spotted breed.
Thank you to Certainly Wood for their high quality wood veneer and Pergamena for the parchment.
Leather & wood rosettes for sale for a limited time, here.