Blog Posts about Silas Kopf

Fine Woodworking Magazine’s Blog Post About Inlay-Arts.com

FineWoodworking.com just published a post about Inlay-Arts.com on their "The Editor's Mailbox" blog. Fine Woodworking.com's Web Producer, Ed Pirnik, wrote the post for the blog as well as a post on the Fine Woodworking Facebook page. [ "A New Home For Mouth-Watering Marquetry".]     Arthur Kim Dodge's new website on Inlay Arts certainly goes a long way when it comes to appreciation of the craft. The new site offers a blog on all-things- inlay, and a gallery featuring respected artisans including Fine Woodworking contributor Craig Thibodeau. For those lucky enough to be included...

Visit with William Tunberg – Artist

He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist. St. Francis of Assisi     I recently drove down to Pasadena from the San Francisco Bay Area with my youngest son, Kenneth. After leaving Ken at his friend's home, I drove down the 405 to the peaceful neighborhood in Venice, CA where Bill Tunberg lives with his wife Camille. Their home is modern and filled with art and design and ambient light. The Tunbergs were both hard at work, getting ready for a show...

Silas Kopf: Recent Works

Silas Kopf at Wexler Gallery May 6 – June 25, 2011 On the first floor, Wexler Gallery is pleased to present recent works by master studio furniture maker and Marquetry artist Silas Kopf.  The exhibition will run from May 6th through June 25th, 2011.  * An opening reception will take place First Friday, May 6th from 5 – 8 pm.   Wexler Gallery Follow this  Wexler Gallery link for more information about the exhibit and images of Silas Kopf's recent art furniture pieces.  

Silas Kopf’s ‘Founding Fathers Writing Table’

"Bill Jewel, of Historical Woods of America, approached me about the possibility of an exhibit using American woods from the homes of the Founding Fathers. I was intrigued, but my concern was trying to make a marquetry image with a limited palette of woods that grow in Virginia." "In my mind the piece had to reference history, yet be of a contemporary design. I opted for a writing table with a trompe l’oeil top depicting a surface that had objects of the 18th century. To make trompe l’oeil believable on a horizontal surface the objects need to be relatively flat. My starting...

Craig Thibodeau’s Dogwood Marquetry Buffet

Craig Thibodeau's expanding design vocabulary Craig Thibodeau sent photos of his new 'dogwood marquetry buffet', so I'll focus this post on Craig's dogwood theme - a fine example of marquetry's affinity for natural imagery. In a recent post - Craig Thibodeau's Art Deco Chess Table - I presented some of his Art Deco pieces. Silas Kopf was originally attracted to marquetry by the Art Nouveau floral designs of Galle and Majorelle. Craig took a course from Paul Schurch, another master at enhancing furniture designs with imagery from nature. Like Silas and Paul, Craig is constantly expanding his marquetry...

Craig Thibodeau’s Art Deco Chess Table

Craig Thibodeau's Woodworking Vocation Craig Thibodeau grew up around woodworking and enjoyed it as a hobby. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering and started a career in industrial product design. However, after his children were born, his hobby became a home-based vocation and his workshop became a professional studio. To intensify and deepen this transition he immersed himself in a series of specialized courses, such as: Advanced marquetry and veneering with Paul Shurch Hand applied finishes at the College of the Redwoods Traditional French Marquetry with Patrick Edwards Compound...

Marquetry Masters Presenting At 2010 Furniture Society Conference

The 2010 Furniture Society Conference, Fusions: Minds and Hands Shaping Our Future The conference will convene June 16-19 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. The cultural richness of Boston with its many galleries, museums and educational institutions will greatly enhance the 2010 conference proceedings taking place on the MIT campus. Fusions is all about the fluid relationships between mind and hand, tool and material, maker and client, technique and theory. In focusing on the theme of fusion—the merging of diverse, distinct elements into a unified whole—the conference...

Marc Adams School of Woodworking is in session

Marc Adams I just received Karen Clifton's latest post from Karen's Cafe blog at Marc Adams School of Woodworking. What a happening place for woodworkers! The classes that I've listed below are being taught by some of the world's best contemporary marquetry and inlay artists. A Great Offering of Woodworking Instructors "We have a GREAT offering of instructors this week at Marc Adams School of Woodworking..."  

William Tunberg – Fine Artist and Creator of Marquetry Sculpture

Creating Marquetry Sculpture "In creating marquetry sculpture, I call upon my lifelong love of assemblage and classical drawing. My materials are exotic natural and dyed veneers that I fragment, assemble, and reassemble, and ultimately laminate over complex sculptural forms of my own devising. I consider the resulting imagery as personal narratives expressed in my own language and mode of communication. Except for its logistical complexities, my use of this classical technique has little in common with traditional marquetry. As far as I know, marquetry has never before been used in contemporary...

Silas Kopf – “Bad Hare Day” at the Renwick

Bad Hare Day by Silas Kopf   Silas Kopf's fusion of form, function and concept grounds his characteristic wit and sense of irony in Bad Hare Day. This exquisitely crafted oval cabinet is the stage for an incongruous marquetry drama; a sleek red-coated fox is being chased by a trio of emboldened hares. This piece is both universal and distinctly American. It's apt that the James Renwick Alliance acquisitions committee voted in May, 2008, to acquire it for a five-figure sum and gift it to the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery.