AMS Member Profile
Ron
Bowman
I
started doing marquetry in 1988 while looking for a particular painting style
to decorate a furniture project I was working on. In my research I found the style
of design I was looking for but it was a pictorial marquetry piece, not a painting.
Over
the next couple of years I taught myself what I could from books. After this I
had doubts that I was doing it right so I took a 2 hour class at the Woodworkers
Store in Minneapolis. The instructors were Ken Kollar and Oskar Schreiner, who
showed me how to utilize bevel-cutting and knife techniques respectively.
Louis Seize Secretaire (Louis XVI) |
Since
I was not entirely new to marquetry I was able to adapt myself rather quickly.
What I came away with was the realization that there are many ways to do marquetry
and I set about to learn as many as I could. The techniques that I have acquired,
plus some that were developed through experimentation on my own, have allowed
me to work unrestricted in this medium.
My
work is divided pretty equally between pictorial and applied marquetry, using
bevel-cutting for the former and the 'donkey'
for the latter.
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Urn (R side of Secretaire)
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I
use a 19" X 50" screw-press in my workshop with a sheet of 1/16"
automotive gasket material to even out the marquetry assembly. I prefer hide glue
as an adhesive and shellac as a finish.
The
pictorial marquetry
that I do is designed by me and contain subjects that I find interesting. When
the subject has your interest, the creative process flows more easily and you
enjoy every step of marquetry.
My
other hobbies are working with computers, maintaining my web site and photography.
As
an active member of the Lakeland Chapter, I try to give at least 1 demo a year
that covers some aspect of marquetry that is lesser known. The diversity of our
members is inspiring when one sees how so many people have adapted in different
ways to create marquetry.
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"Floral"
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"Paris"
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