Christmas Savings at the Marquetryman Studio
Save from 30 to 50% on all in stock marquetry and furniture until December 24th. You can call it a starving artist sale, or you can just consider it a great way to get that truly unique gift at once in a lifetime savings. Everything that is in stock will be reduced to help you and I both create a special Holiday for our family and friends.
I will also be giving a 15% discount on any custom furniture or marquetry orders that are placed before Christmas.
Here are just a few of the items on sale and their savings. Just click on any photo for a larger view.
Wren Lake $250. 50% saving
In This World But Not Of It $275 - 30% saving
Cherry Sofa Table $475 - 30% saving
Magazine Table with Marquetry $440 - 30% saving
Cherry Harvest Table & Six Chairs $2,000 - 30% saving
Vancouver Island $1,100 - 50% saving
Barns of the Opeongo Trail $200 - 50% saving
The Summer I Turned Eighteen $600 - 50% saving
Waiting $300 - 25% saving
Out of the Shadows $200 - 50% saving
- Point of View $300 – 50% saving
To see more you will have to visit the Marquetryman Studio at 4679 County rd. 21 in Haliburton. If you have any questions please email me at kevin@marquetryman.ca For a map to my location please visit the Haliburton County Studio Tour web-site.
If you help me give my family a nice Christmas I will try to return the favour.
Returning to my Roots
Although I was trained as a furniture maker, the majority of my past works have been marquetry pieces that have hung on the wall. This was due to several reasons. Firstly, the marquetry has required years of honing my skills to bring my abilities to what I consider to be world-class. Secondly, I started my business straight out of college and with no budget at all. I worked in basements and spare bedrooms that required little investment. These spaces did not allow me to set up a proper furniture shop with all of the required equipment. I was, however able to develop my expertise in marquetry, working on smaller framed work for the wall.
Over the last year I have finally built the shop of my dreams. This 2000 sq. ft. facility has allowed me to return to my roots as a furniture maker. You can still find my wall pieces (marquetry paintings if you will) but now you can also find a wide range of furniture. Some of my furniture is of classic design and much is original. The work that is truly exciting me these days is furniture that incorporates marquetry in its design.
This contemporary coffee table with a marquetry top is an example of the work I am currently pursuing.
Haliburton Library Donor Wall (Unveiled)
Friday June 4th at noon, People began to gather in front of the Haliburton Public Library. The day of the unveiling of the marquetry panel that honors the donors that have made the new library possible.
Reeve Murray Fearrey Talking to the gathering
Murray Fearrey had very kind words to say regarding my work on this marquetry panel, and regarding my role in the arts community.
Jocelyne Lafleur is introduced
I am grateful for the chance to contribute in some way to this worthy project and for the chance to feel like more of a contributing member of Haliburton’s community. I am lucky to be part of a community where the arts are honoured and supported.
The Unveiling
I was also introducing Jocelyne Lafleur to the crowd. Jocelyne was the model used in the marquetry panel, she is also my great niece. It was nice for her to see other people’s reaction. Up until now my work was “just this thing that uncle Kevin does in his shop.” Now she saw it in a different light!
"The Journey" unveiled
Trillium
This piece of marquetry depicts a trillium using only a small amount of detail. Marquetry seems to have two main approaches. One is when the artist fills the design with detail and human cleverness, and the other is when the artist uses more restraint and allows the wood room to breath and express itself. This second approach, I feel, highlights the beauty of mother natures work.
In the case of this trillium a gorgeous piece of mahogany crotch is used for the background. This piece of wood does so much work, with highlights and shadows that suggest the light penetrating to the forest floor. The simple trillium acts as a point of reference and context that completes the story. I hope you enjoy it.
Trillium on Mahogany crotch
In This World But Not Of It
"In This World But Not Of It"
This Marquetry work was inspired by a teaching from the Buddha. In this lesson the Buddha was talking about a lotus flower but I am more familiar with water lilies. Although the water-lily is rooted in dirty beaver ponds etc. full of leaches and generally filthy water it transcends this muck and rises above to create a beautiful blossom that transforms its suroundings. The lesson of course is that our lives may be rooted in grief and troubles that are out of our control, but we can choose to rise above our surroundings and become a point of beauty that can affect the world around us. We can not change the things that happen to us, but we can choose how we respond to them.
New Showroom Open for Business
This Saturday, May 22, I will open a brand new showroom to visitors. After thirty years of making do with spaces that did double duty I will finally have a full time dedicated space to show my work. I invite you to stop by on the long weekend to help celibrate the opening of this show space. You will find me at 4679 county Rd. 21 in Haliburton, or grab a Studio Tour map for directions. It would be nice to see you.
The Marquetryman Studio
Introducing Iranian Marqueteur Azi Chalak
One of the best parts about having this blog is the people who it has helped me to meet. Recently I have met a skilled and passionate artist from Iran living in Germany while working on a doctorate. Azi’s work is very well executed with refined detail. I would like to share a few images with you. To see more of her work follow this link to get to her blog. http://achalak.blogspot.com Click on images to see a larger view.
Freedom
Love Song
Custom Winders for Blueberry Hill
A beautiful squared-timber log cottage on the shores of one of Haliburton’s many remote lakes. This is where I get to build a set of custom stairs featuring three-inch thick white pine treads with live edge nosing.
Bottom view
Blueberry Hill
To use the “live edge” of a board means to peel back the bark and use the organic curves of the trees outer layer in the design.
Live edges on treads and stringer
Live edge
They are called winders because of the triangular treads that wind around the corner.
- Winder treads
Firstly this was already a beautiful custom fireplace with stunning stone work and a douglas fir timber embedded in the stone as the mantel. However, when it had been completed the clients found that the fir timber did not have the feel that they were looking for. This is when they approached me to see if I could design a mantel that would have a different impact. In the beginning they were thinking of a landscape, but they were willing to hear that I felt the eight foot length with a nine-inch depth might not lend itself to that type of design. They were willing to trust my judgment in suggesting maple leaves blowing in the wind in a deep fall orange on a marbled ebony background. Along with this design I showed them a picture of a Great Horned Owl that was also on a marbled ebony background.
The results pleased the clients and created a dramatic focal point in a beautiful Haliburton cottage.
Completed renovation
Before renovationCompleted renovation
"Night Shift" Great Horned Owl (marquetry)Detail of Great Horned Owl
The Haliburton Arts Council has chosen to highlight my work in a feature article on their website. The article discusses how I got my start in furniture making and the art of marquetry. A particular focus has been put on the donor wall that has recently been completed for the new Haliburton County Public Library. To see this article just follow this link: haliburtonarts.on.ca
Thanks to the Arts Council and to Mark Arike for this recognition.
