Making A Difference To The Indifference
Subtropical Rainforest Mt Glorious QLD Australia
In a number of my artist statements can be found the quote “Making a difference to the indifference”. For many of us the indifference that is evident in much of todays society towards nature and natural systems can be a bit distressing, to say the least. Sure not everyone is into nature, but every single one of us on the planet needs nature and natural systems to survive now and on into the future. With deforestation at an all time high in Australia and in much of the world. We, all of us must find ways to live and work with nature and not against it. This same indifference carries through to resources and the consumer goods that we buy. If it’s broken or doesn’t fit the fashion, we toss it without a second thought. Right across the board we have been tossing just about everything that we use to landfill. Most of which still has a life, either recycled or repurposed into something else. Having said this, a heartening and commonsense change is now underway throughout many parts of the world. Many companies and individuals across the globe are seeing the light and are now beginning to reuse and recycle much of what they use. Not only is this action good for the planet as a whole, but I also believe that by taking this approach these companies and individuals are finding that it’s reducing their overall costs and thereby increasing their profits.
Which brings me to the point of what I do, and that is. Collecting the wooden “rubbish”, saving it from landfill or the burn pile. Gathering up those old doors, windows, used or broken furniture pieces. Then with a little creativity, patience and traditional woodworking techniques recycling the timber back into heirloom pieces for this and the next generation. Doing what little I can in the perseveration and restoration of this pale blue dot upon which we are all standing. Also by highlighting the Australian fauna and natural systems through detailed art works in graphite. Combining these two things with the ancient art of marquetry inlay I am creating pieces that have been collected and loved by many. So to demonstrate my part in “Making a Difference to the Indifference” below I have put together a brief example of how a project in recycled timber comes together.
A fine hall table from rubbish
The Yellow Robin Hall Table in recycled Northern Silky-oak and reclaimed Southern Silky-oak is a project from 2019. It started out as the side of a long ago disassembled cupboard and the stiles from a large glass door. Northern Silky-oak is incredibly variable in colour and this particular bit of it was simply a standout piece of timber. So I decided to accent that by using the lighter coloured reclaimed Southern Silky-oak for the legs and drawer pull. In almost all recycling jobs there is paint, stain sometimes both and often many nails and screws to be removed before any of the construction work can begin, this project was no different. The construction here was the same for all of my work, traditional mortise and tenon joinery for the stand and the drawer runners. In this case as in many I grain matched the drawer in the front rail. Doing this in solid timber takes a little extra effort and careful work but the results speak for themselves. So once the drawer box was made and fitted into place, It was time to begin the patient work on the marquetry inlay.
Click the arrows on the photos to see part of the table process.
Creating an inlay of a pair of Eastern Yellow Robins is something that I had been thinking about for a while and this table presented that very opportunity. The photos below show a sample of the marquetry inlay process and also my take on the “Window Method”. The window method is a marquetry technique where you start with a line drawing that is transferred on to a backing piece of veneer via copy paper. Sections of the copied drawing on the backing veneer are cut away one piece at a time and each time one is removed this creates the “window” it is then replaced with a different bit of veneer. Either a different colour, grain or both. Because I am inlaying into a solid substrate the backing veneer part of the window method is completely omitted from the process and a piece of white card is all that’s required. Drawing straight onto the card, cutting and fitting the pieces into it as I go. Then when the motif is complete it is removed from the card ready to be inlayed into a tabletop or piece of furniture. As with all marquetry works it all starts with a drawing and it can be as simple as say a leaf, or reasonably complex as in this case, a pair of realistic Yellow Robins.
Click the arrows on the photos to see part of the marquetry process.
To make a motif such as this takes many small pieces and a lot of searching in the veneer stocks to find the right tones and grain shapes. For many motifs quite a number of small pieces are needed to simulate the effect and the direction of feathers on a bird. For example, in order to get the feather direction flowing in the nape of the neck and the head areas on lefthand robin. I cut around 16 small individually pieces, and that doesn’t include the eye, bill and throat.
When your marquetry motif or piece is complete it is then “knifed in”. This means the motif is carefully removed from the card and placed into its final position onto the thing that it’s being inlaid into. Once secured with tape you then take a scalpel and carefully cut an outline all the way round. This is the part that requires extra patience because whatever you are inlaying the motif into is basically finished, i.e everything is done but the final sanding and the finish applied. So a mistake here or a slip with the knife is not ideal. After the knife line is created the substrate area inside the line is carefully removed down to the depth of the veneer thickness. The motif is then pressed and glued in place. Once dry all that remains is some careful scraping, the final sanding and the finish applied. This is of course a basic description of the process as there are many other finer details, observations and adjustments made along the way.
There is a world of practical uses for recycled timber and most of them are a lot less time consuming than recycling it back into fine heirloom pieces with detailed marquetry inlays. But because I have an enormous respect for the material and a deep love for the natural systems it came from, I find it almost impossible to approach it in any other way. So this my take on “Making a Difference to the Indifference”, albeit a small but very passionate one.
“Our task must be to free ourselves, by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty”