Daily Art Muse » Wood

gustav reyes: simply wood rings

Susan Lomuto — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:24:47 +0000

Gustav Reyes salvages wood – from the neck of a violin, or a young boy’s baseball bat or the keys of a xylophone - and skillfully transforms the wood into rings – wedding rings, engagement rings, anniversary rings, rings that celebrate nature, life, love. Sensitive to the history of each piece, Reyes’ strives to “bring out the warmth and the honesty of the wood.” He has two websites – you can find them here and here.

Come back late this afternoon for my final post of the week – see you then!

The Purple Key, Ash, Maple and Rosewood from a xylophone key

Ring, Bog Oak and concrete inlay

The Key, Ash, Maple and Rosewood from a salvaged xylophone key

fritz dietel: wood chips and epoxy

Susan Lomuto — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:42:33 +0000

Steaming strips and chips of wood and bending them over constructed forms that are later removed, Fritz Dietel borrows techniques from boat and bridge building to create sculptures that celebrate repetition in form, nature as a springboard for design and the possibility of elegance from humble materials.

Fracture, pine and pigmented epoxy, 40 x 38 x 40

Champignon, pine, cedar and pigmented epoxy, 73 x 42 x 42

Torso, pine and pigmented epoxy, 35 x 17 x 12

The artist, who considers himself part scientist, engineer, artist and inventor, feels most comfortable alone in his studio or in the woods, where he patiently constructs each sculpture using pigmented epoxy. After working with wood for twenty years, Dietel recently made a shift to handmade paper. Watch this interview as he demonstrates and explains his latest work with a new medium.

livio de marchi’s world of wood

Susan Lomuto — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:44:28 +0000

I’m nursing a moving related injury – that’s why I wasn’t around yesterday. Muscles and nerves and all of the other things that get tweaked when you move…in stages…for weeks. I’m off to have it looked at – while I’m gone enjoy Livio De Marchi’s world.

Painter’s Bag, Walnut wood, 14 x 21 x 13″

Raincoat With Magazine, Walnut wood, 69″ x 22″

The Venetian artist began sculpting as a child, eventually studying at an art school in his hometown of Venice, first with marble, then bronze and finally wood, a medium that has allowed De Marchi to show his sense of humor and creativity with a degree of warmth and accessibility that was missing from the other materials he worked with.

Gloves

De Marchi in one of the rooms in the House of Books sculpted by the artist

Venice is a city that does not allow cars. However, the master craftsman found a way around this when he sculpted a Ferrari car/boat to carry him across the canals. The Ferrari is one of several full sized vehicles that De Marchi has sculpted and each one is an exact replica of the real thing down to the most minute detail. Watch De Marchi drive his carboat in the video below.

Mostly Glass has several images of De Marchi’s House of Books. Click on each thumbnail for a larger picture.

Watch DeMarchi at work in his studio in this video. Make sure you set the video to HQ for this one.

Another short clip of the artist at work.

Mostly Glass has a comprehensive listing of his work. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page for links to several pages of images.

Even more here.

joey richardson lets wood speak for itself

Susan Lomuto — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:07:49 +0000

Joey Richardson has been turning wood for almost two decades, studying under Chris Stott, Stuart Mortimer, Trent Bosch, David Nittman and Binh Pho along the way, honing her skills and developing a style of her own. Richardson is a fine example of an artist who has found a strong voice, even as traces of the teacher’s influence remains evident.

Seed of Love, 6″, Sycamore, pierced, airbrushed, acrylic paint

The turned and pierced sculptures are bursting with color, pattern and texture – a joy to look at from any angle – front, back, above, inside and out – with graceful curves and layered elements that draw you close and surprising details that pull you further into her hybrid-organic world of wood.

Romeo, sycamore, acrylic, 7″x6″

Mad

“Professionally I feel very fortunate to be a female in what is essentially a man’s world of wood turning. My style incorporates both the more feminine – the delicate and beautiful – and the more masculine – the big and bold. Combined, these two aspects fully encapsulate and make the most striking use of wood’s tactile beauty.” Joey Richardson

Olli

“For too long wood has played a supportive role to art in the form of canvas, paper and frames. Let wood now speak for itself.” Joey Richardson

Kismet

Read an article about the artist in the Chicago Fine Arts Examiner

More detailed images of Richardson’s most recent work at delMano Gallery

More wood art here

bud latven: beauty in form

Susan Lomuto — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:43:58 +0000

Bud Latven has been working with wood since 1972, when he first learned how to make cabinets and furniture. In the early 1980’s he made the shift from furniture maker to lathe-turned artist, and when work by this self-taught artist landed on the cover of Fine Woodworking magazine in 1985 his career was catapulted to a national level. Today Latven continues to push the envelope with his evolving interpretation of the turned vessel.

Bocote Torsion, Bocote, 18 1/2″ x 13 1/2″ x 18 1/2″

Dancing Impact 3, Cocobolo, Tiger Maple, 21″ x 26″

Hyperboloid 3, Canary Wood, Massacar Ebony, 24″ x 19″

Hyperboloid 3, alternate view

While the full portfolio is on his website, the images are almost too small and don’t do the work justice. A better way to view Latven’s work is at delMano Gallery.

lucker and wood’s mechanical pictures

Susan Lomuto — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:37:40 +0000

In 1987, armed with degrees in sculpture and printmaking from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Ann Wood and Dean Lucker began creating mechanical sculptures that require the viewer’s participation to bring the art to life. Lucker and Wood’s Mechanical Pictures and Dexterity Games are a sheer delight for the perpetually curious. Art that moves – that engages me in the process – is infinitely appealing.

You Are Amazing, 7.5″ x 6″ x 1″,
archival paper and ink, wooden back, plexiglass front and printed paper sides

[When the lever is pressed down, the young lady places a card on top of the stack of cards and the message "You Are Amazing" is revealed]

Catching The Moon

[This piece is about a tender acknowledgment of the larger cycles we all live in. When the lever is lifted up, the moon drops down as the woman's arm lifts to greet the moon]

In addition to their collaborative work, the website showcases their individual art, which is equally impressive. Wood works with the unlikely combination of dyed eggshells and seed beads to create her paintings, and Lucker carves his figures from wood and resin, adding electrical motors to the mix to create blooming flowers, spinning fortune wheels and automated figures.

Leaking Moon, 40″ x 12″ x 10″

Swan and Balloon, 34″ x 34″ x 2″, egg shells, seed beads

During the past five years, I have created dense surfaces made of dyed, cracked egg shells and seed beads hand set with surgical tweezers. It is my intention to make beautiful, personal images which describe a powerful spirit in a mysterious manner. By jumping through time and choosing figures of differing ages, I hope to make a physiological imprint of my life’s story. Ann Wood

This short clip shows one of Lucker’s sculptures in action. I turned the sound off when I watched it – the mechanics were noisy – the only shortcoming to this interesting body of work.

jacqueline cullen: the beauty of the flaw

Susan Lomuto — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:24:34 +0000

Jacqueline Cullen is inspired by dramatic acts of nature that fracture our landscape. Whitby jet, a rare prehistoric black fossilized wood, allows the London jewelry artist to explore and celebrate jagged edges, deep fissures and uneven crevices. Cullen hand carves small section of wood lined with 24k gold, “leaving delicate threads of gold running through the finished objects tracing the breaks and joins.” An elegant reminder that there is often profound beauty in the flaw.

Hand carved pendant, Whitby jet 24k gold inlay, 18k gold

I am inspired by dramatic acts of nature, a placid sky ripped open by a violent storm, a volcano erupting, a cliff edge left jagged from erosion.

Hand carved ring, Whitby jet, 24k gold inlay

Hand formed bowl pin, Whitby jet, Swarovski crystals, 18k gold

Bracelet, Whitby jet, Swarovski crystals, 18k gold

Hand carved ring, Whitby jet, Swarovski crystals

Hiatuses inform my aesthetics and the interruption or breaking up of a bold, fluid form is central to my work where fractures, fissures and crevices are highlighted by an encrustation of textured fine gold, tiny crystals or glittering black diamonds.

More from Jacqueline Cullen on this site

jacques vesery: look and listen as the world turns

Susan Lomuto — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:42:25 +0000

Inspired by the colors and shapes found in nature, master woodturner Jacques Vesery creates complex turned, carved sculptures and vessels using wood that is still green – drying it in a microwave after each stage of turning and carving. Read more about his process here.

As the World Turns & the Seasons Spin, 21″ x 5″ x 6″, 2009
swiss pear, white oak, fossil mammoth ivory, acrylics and metal leaf
Collaboration with Bonnie Klein, click image to see large

The award-winning artist’s work has a hypnotic effect on viewers. Distinguished by lush colors, repeating leaf patterns and rows of rippling, curving lines that mimic lapping waves, the skillfully carved sculptures provide a quiet place to rest tired eyes.

Fly My Blues Away, 5″ x 2.3″
carved/textured cherry, silver leaf, acrylic

Aqua Nova, 3″ x 7″
carved/textured cherry, african blackwood burl, acrylic, carved opal

Primordial Orb of the Pemaquid Rock People, 6″x6″x4″ w/ 3″sphere
carved/textured cherry, burnt ash, steel, granite, 23k gold leaf, acrylics

Teapot, Relic of a Tidal Tea Time, 7″x6″x7″
carved/textured cherry, oxidized silver, acrylic, opal

“We are touched and influenced every day by many shapes and colors. We look, we listen. I work in wood due to its familiarity, its makeup, and its qualities. Its warmth inspires direction and doesn’t inhibit me. The wood becomes my canvas, but it’s the engaging convergence of form, proportion, texture, and color that creates the unique spirit and soul with a story to tell. Material and technique then become irrelevant. Each piece of art I create has its own story…we just need to look and listen.” Jacques Vesery

When Vesery was a submariner in the Navy he lived in a small space with 150 people. The experience helped the self-taught artist gain new respect for the old adage, “A place for everything and everything in its place”.

Jacques Vesery in his space

Watch this short video to learn how his time on the submarine influenced the organization of his current space.

‘As the World Turns & the Seasons Spin’ is part of Boxes and Their Makers, the current exhibit (through November 25th) at The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine.

Above quote as seen on Maine Home Design

cervini haas fine art: the pin show

Susan Lomuto — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:04:18 +0000

While I rest up from a full weekend, take a look at Cervini Haas Fine Art’s pin exhibit. Among my favorites are the painted wood brooches by wood/mixed media artist David French , sculptor Lanny Bergner’s glass frit/bronze screen pins and basket artist Joanne Russo’s hook and eye beaded brooches.

Lanny Bergner, bronze, brass screen, wire, glass frit

Joanne Russo, black ash, beads, hooks & eyes, wire, paper cord, waxed linen, thread

David French, wood, paint

susan etcoff fraerman: narrative shoes

Susan Lomuto — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:41:58 +0000

I have a small collection of vintage shoe forms – they are part of a larger collection of objects that provoke my curious nature and provide silent companionship in my studio. I started collecting the shoe lasts more than a year ago and continue to be charmed by the character of the wood, the variety of shapes, stretching mechanisms and range of sizes.

Bound For Glory III, glass beads, semi precious stones, found object

Susan Etcoff Fraerman used several vintage shoe forms in her beaded Narrative Shoes series, 14 different shoes that each tell a story, ranging from well-worn toe shoes to Chinese slippers. They are all lovely, but the shoe forms are what pulled me in.

Bound For Glory III, detail

The Blues

Fraerman works intuitively and you won’t find looms, patterns or graphs in her studio. She explains that, “the beads, varying in texture, size, degree of translucency and hue, are woven in a free form interpretation of a classic stitch – right angle weave.”

Lotus Shoes

My work often speaks of contemporary issues that have touched me deeply: children in need, mutability of the body, the vicissitudes of life. Susan Etcoff Fraerman

Bound For Glory I, glass & metal beads, nylon thread, found object

Shoes are not the only objects that Fraerman transforms with her intricate, tactile beadwork. Be sure to check out Bra Books, “intimate repositories of dreams, thoughts and poetry” and her latest work, The Language of Hands, where the hand in closed fist, open palm and other gestures is used to express a metaphor of universal signals.

More about Susan Etcoff Fraerman at WomanMade.

I’m headed down to NYC to spend time with my daughter. I think the weekend calls for sensible shoes – no heels or beads for me. Have a cozy, comfy, art-filled weekend!

kate furman: lines of a city

Susan Lomuto — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:06:21 +0000

Kate Furman translates her impression of the architecture of Florence Italy into a collection of brooches she calls “Lines Of A City” using wood scraps, gemstones and metal. Read more about the emerging artist’s process here and be sure to view the entire 32 piece “Lines Of A City” collection.

These pieces represent the merging of drawn, fabricated, and implied lines creating a three-dimensional drawing. The pieces also explore the ornamentation and inherent qualities of wood. Burning lines, drilling holes, and adding elements are ways I change the wood. My additions are reactions to what the wood or the initial burnt drawing presents to me in shape, pattern, line, or texture. Kate Furman

tevita havea: creative compulsion

Susan Lomuto — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:07:40 +0000

Blown glass, woven twine and carved wood are the materials of choice for Tonga born Tevita Havea. A 2005 graduate of the Australian National University School of Art Glass Workshop, Havea is an emerging artist who tells the stories of his boyhood through sculpture. Read this review of the artist’s work that appeared in a show titled “The Hunks of Glass”. The review includes the fascinating story told by his three pieces in the show.

The Gate Keeper, glass, wood, twine

Vailoa, glass, twine

Return, glass, wood, twine

Sino, glass, twine

“I aim to mimic the rawness of the primitive, the refinement of the contemporary and voice the ‘inbetweeness’ of culture.” Tevita Havea

A more in-depth look at Tevita Havea’s art can be found here. Pictures of an exhibit of Havea’s most recent work are on Glass Central Canberra’s Flickr site. More about him at Vitria Gallery.

amy gillespie’s wood and wool

Susan Lomuto — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:58:05 +0000

Amy Gillespie uses a router to create a channel in panels of wood and then inlays the channel with wet-felted wool roving. The pop of color against the wood grain really works in these wall pieces and the wool shapes look cell-like in their construction. Organic. I like the concept – do you think it could be applied to other material combinations?

Iris Stream, wood, felt, acrylic paint, 22″ x 9″ x 1″

Ika Marine, wood, felt, acrylic paint, 28″ x 26″ x 1″

Hooded Berries, wood, felt, acrylic paint 12″ x 12″ x 12″

bugged: emi savacool

Susan Lomuto — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:04:56 +0000

I’m busy as a bee…which got me thinking about bugs…there are so many bugs this time of year…which got me thinking about bugs and art. Can you tell where this is going? I’ll be showing beautiful, bodacious bugs for the next couple of days…lots of pictures and links, but I won’t have time for too much text because I’m busy as a bee…

Elegy, carved boxwood, sterling silver, nickel silver, onyx, dyes

Khepera, carved boxwood, sterling silver and enamel on copper

Mixed media jeweler Emi Savacool shares her laborious process for creating Khepera in these three blog posts.

Slideshow courtesy of crafthaus

Find more photos like this on crafthaus

vladimir gvozdev captures the essence of child’s play

Susan Lomuto — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:58:04 +0000

It’s raining here in the Hudson Valley. Again. Another dark, wet, morning in this, the soggiest of summers. A good time to let Vladimir Gvozdev’s quirky characters transport me to another time, another place, another summer.

This Russian artist’s dolls and wooden toys capture the essence of a long-ago childhood – do you remember the thrill of a cat’s cradle, playing telephone, getting tangled up in a hula hoop and swinging on a backyard swing? I do.

Youthful figures armed with paper airplanes, kites, doll carriages and scooters, readying themselves for another day of play – the real work of childhood.

As I scrolled through the images of finely detailed sculptures with almost-melancholy faces, I recalled sweet moments from my own childhood and dreams of riding high atop an elephant’s back.

It’s still raining outside. I think I’ll linger a little bit longer in Vladimir Gvozdev’s world. Hope you remember to play today…no matter what your age.

Links to his most recent works are here and here (scroll sideways in this gallery and put your cursor over the images to see different angles of the toys). Gvozdev’s earlier work is equally compelling and thought provoking – don’t miss this gallery.

We have Lorrene Davis to thank for linking us to this morning’s trip down memory lane!