Project Information
"Toscana" is a hand dyed marquetry plaque mounted on 3/8" MDF. I made it at the request of my good' wife for a decorative accent to go on our new granite / tile cabinet upgrade. The substrate is cut precisely to the outline of the picture and dyed black on the edge.
The marquetry is all cut from a single layer of plain maple and all the pieces are hand dyed in the watercolor dye technique after cutting and before assembly. This method allows lots of artistic leeway in shading and colors but is very fragile in that the dyes do not penetrate deeply at all and must be protected from all moisture and abrasion. That is the hardest part of the whole process.
The photos show the original photo I used, the sketch I made from it, the mess I made dyeing and the final in situ appearance. The finish, although semi gloss is very difficult to photograph.
As a learning experience it was great, as marquetry I'm not so sure. I can't really compare it to real marquetry because in my mind it just isn't. I think it has to be looked at as a separate entity and in that light time will tell whether I (we) really like it or really don't. I can never tell how I feel about a different piece like this until at least a few months have passed. For now we are both happy enough with it to keep it in its new home on the backsplash but I'm still considering re-creating it in "real" marquetry.
The project is written up in segments four to seven of the watercolor dye blog in the link above.
Thanks for looking.
Comments, critiques and questions are always welcome.
The marquetry is all cut from a single layer of plain maple and all the pieces are hand dyed in the watercolor dye technique after cutting and before assembly. This method allows lots of artistic leeway in shading and colors but is very fragile in that the dyes do not penetrate deeply at all and must be protected from all moisture and abrasion. That is the hardest part of the whole process.
The photos show the original photo I used, the sketch I made from it, the mess I made dyeing and the final in situ appearance. The finish, although semi gloss is very difficult to photograph.
As a learning experience it was great, as marquetry I'm not so sure. I can't really compare it to real marquetry because in my mind it just isn't. I think it has to be looked at as a separate entity and in that light time will tell whether I (we) really like it or really don't. I can never tell how I feel about a different piece like this until at least a few months have passed. For now we are both happy enough with it to keep it in its new home on the backsplash but I'm still considering re-creating it in "real" marquetry.
The project is written up in segments four to seven of the watercolor dye blog in the link above.
Thanks for looking.
Comments, critiques and questions are always welcome.
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