Wood Art: Growing Your Collection of this Ancient Artform

Wood Art: Growing Your Collection of this Ancient Artform

My own interest in wood artwork and woodworking arrives from a childhood undertaking carpentry with my father and understanding the craft by way of the lens of utility. Weekends had been invested making use of cedar shingles to New England Cape Cods, hanging decks or roofing, or making kitchen area cupboards a chess board inlaid with Mahogany, Poplar, and Cherry or wonderfully intricate birdhouses for my mother.  

I imagine most people envision these very same matters when they think of wood art: constructing houses and home furniture. But later in existence, individuals capabilities allowed me to construct my possess wooden cradles for portray, stretcher bars for canvas, and tailor made handlooms for weaving do the job. There is a prosperity of non-functional, attractive objects that stems from that skill established, and comprehension the manipulable characteristics of the materials can help us in discerning pieces we could wish to adorn our spaces with.

Let us dive into 1 of the oldest arts in human background and what present-day pieces can notify us about humanity today.

The roots of wooden artwork

From humble beginnings to the most intricate veneer operate, wooden art and woodworking have propelled our civilization forward and spurred social and cultural growth in quite a few approaches. To start with, contemplate that wood is the resource and the substrate in this historical past: assume of the handle of the adze and the canoe that it hollows out. As the instruments make improvements to, so as well do the techniques of the consumer, leading to both aesthetic and utilitarian epiphanies.

Some of the earliest objects of that utilitarian and aesthetic blend appear from Egyptian tombs, where they had been perfectly preserved. Home furniture, as well as the inlay of exotic materials in sarcophagi, offer great illustrations of the ornamentation our cultures have been perfecting for countless numbers of yrs.

In neolithic civilizations, these components would have been locally sourced, but the raise in trade, growth of trade routes, and in some instances, deforestation introduced the import of new elements and shared tips about how they could be manipulated. Where by wooden art is involved, we’ll be concentrating on the aesthetic object educated by these utilitarian skillsets as nicely as the inherent traits of the materials itself.

Wooden you look at that

wood art
Wall Operate: A Wonderful Woodworking Competition winner, “Golden Hour” by Jynae Bergeron combines numerous species of uncovered wooden, pyrography, and portray.

There are several things when contemplating the substrate that provides huge option for the artisan. Wood is both challenging or tender, affecting its malleability and grain construction or determine. Talking of grain – just about every is unique, like a fingerprint, and can be affected by a number of exterior aspects, this kind of as a burl. Its coloration, ranging from pink to black, varies by species, growing ailments, and the place it is sourced from in the tree (sapwood or heartwood). Even how it is milled can alter its physical appearance.

There are also several software issues that are worth noting as perfectly. Wooden can be carved, joined, turned, or veneered. Hand tooling can leave deliberate marks as a nod to the artist’s hand, and the time and labor concerned can be a main issue in each pricing and attraction. The improvement of ability applications has permitted for ever far more intricate and specific execution of completed styles having said that, the monetary barrier for entrance can be rather high. The greatest of both worlds might be digital systems these kinds of as laser cutters and CNC machines which have designed it extra obtainable than at any time. If you stay in an urban area, on the lookout up “maker space” will possible direct you to a locale with entry to these equipment and likely helpful and experienced individuals as nicely.

Critical things in gathering wood artwork

For individuals intrigued in collecting wood artwork, I see quite a few concerns connected to possibly materiality or approach that are truly worth considering.

How are they using the species? Woods occur in a range of hues and patterning. You have almost everything from the pinks and purples of Red Cedar to the chocolate browns of Peruvian Walnut. Are these colour differences remaining utilized to express depth and area? Build delineations in geometric styles? Is it a stark pop furnishing visible interest for our eyes? Christopher Lloyd Tucker’s “The Stare Down,” pictured over, uses many wooden types to excellent outcome below and is a beautiful illustration of electronic technologies and laser chopping.

 How are they working with the grain? Condition, fungal advancement, and knots can build “figures” in woods this sort of as spalting and burls, which are very prized for their special styles, but the patterning of the wood’s interior composition is very first: a directional high quality. Is it currently being made use of linearly to develop motion, depth, or curves? Is it crosscut, exposing the rings, or employing the close grain? Is the grain sample itself unique colours and adding to the piece in an intriguing way? Sean Henson’s operate slices wooden boards into slim levels and utilizes the wood’s conclusion grain to an ethereal influence. By combining the parts with a mild box, he achieves both of those geometric and natural styles and a radiant distinction and symmetry that is hard to seem away from.

Wood Art
Sean Henson invents a new sort of wood art out of red oak stop grain with mild shining via it, making a magnificently beautiful shimmering effect.

What is the method? The variety of means 1 can alter wood is huge and could probably be its very own post. Each and every has historic relevance and associations, and understanding what we are seeking at can enhance our appreciation of both equally the craft and the maker.

Is it inlaid with a distinctive wooden or other exotic content? Is it a potent instance of marquetry: an graphic designed by combining different woods? Is it carved in aid or in the round? Is it a meticulously scroll-sawn intarsia? Is it joined in a unique way utilizing, possibly, resins – or additional classic solutions this kind of as dovetailing? Is it burned through pyrography to build representational imagery or shou sugi ban for color and texture as observed in Amelia Currier’s “Castanets”?

wood art
Amelia Currier, “Castanets” (2020) uses a cornucopia of wood treatment plans and unites them in the kind of an oval.

Likely from the grain

 Wooden has got a great deal going for it outdoors of a spot for your butt. Significantly like the other craft sorts, there is a general public interest in the handmade and special that is remarkable to see. Wood is so near to us that it can be almost banal at times, and we can take it for granted. However we have all witnessed the magnificence of a live edge espresso desk, the joinery of an antique mahogany dresser, or the fantastic scrollwork on a Victorian façade.

Fine wooden art can take the greatest of these instruments, tactics, and components and fashions them into anything common but novel. It blends utilitarian traditions and their ornamentation with purely aesthetic aims, and I feel you are going to locate something you really like after you know what you’re searching at.

What wooden artwork turns your head? Let us know in the comments.