First post!

[marcus]

+1 to what Mike said re JK's machines and use of timber. What's perhaps somewhat unusual in JK's approach to timber selection was that rather than coming up with a design and then finding the best timber to work with that design (which is by far the most common approach) he would find a particular figure or other quality in the timber that appealed to him and let it dictate the design. He would make a piece inspired by a particular bit of timber, rather than choose timber to go with a pre-concieved piece. Personally I tend to work the more 'normal' way, but it's fun to try the other way round sometimes if you have the time — it can take you in unexpected directions....

The JK approach is more common in marquetry (the sort where you are making fancy pictures). In that art-form the best work is often considered to be that in which the picture has been inspired by the possibilities in a specific piece of veneer — ie the picture could only have been convincingly executed with that piece of wood and no other.

 

[woodbrains]

+1 to what Mike said re JK's machines and use of timber. What's perhaps somewhat unusual in JK's approach to timber selection was that rather than coming up with a design and then finding the best timber to work with that design (which is by far the most common approach) he would find a particular figure or other quality in the timber that appealed to him and let it dictate the design. He would make a piece inspired by a particular bit of timber, rather than choose timber to go with a pre-concieved piece. Personally I tend to work the more 'normal' way, but it's fun to try the other way round sometimes if you have the time — it can take you in unexpected directions....

The JK approach is more common in marquetry (the sort where you are making fancy pictures). In that art-form the best work is often considered to be that in which the picture has been inspired by the possibilities in a specific piece of veneer — ie the picture could only have been convincingly executed with that piece of wood and no other.

Hello,

Yes, Krenov did seem to do things a bit backwards and some people seem to think this took away creativity. I have heard people refer to it as the tail wagging the dog. But this is not the case; he did exactly what he wanted, in cooperation with the wood. He didn't fight against it. It is rather like fancying shepherds pie for tea but finding ingredients for beef stew in the fridge. Only a fool would continue to make shepherds pie but someone with skill could make stew with so much care that it was the best ever tasted. Keep the recipes for another time and when the right ingredients present themselves, then that will be special too.

Mike.