Ian Parker, Artist's Box (ART & OBJECTS 2025)

Photos:

Ian Parker

Country

United Kingdom (Great Britain)

I wanted to make a box to contain the simple art equipment that I use in my everyday work. The box contains everything I need to sketch and paint watercolour illustrations of proposed furniture pieces. I wanted the box to be a simple shape but not square and to include a marquetry design that could suggest to the casual viewer what the contents might be. The box sides and lid are constructed from stack laminated plywood ellipses that were shaped by hand using rasps. The lower portion is veneered in fumed chestnut with an oil finish. The top is veneered with over 90 individually cut strips of maple, with a knife cut marquetry design that uses elliptical shapes to mirror the box's overall look using colours that represent the colour wheel. The box lid is finished with French polish to showcase the marquetry. Internally the box is finished with both solid and veneered cherry elements to house the two fitted sycamore pencil cases, the two water containers and the central box containing paints, brushes and two ceramic palettes. Working with curves is always time consuming but the hardest challenge was cutting each of the 200 plus veneer strips that surround the box, having to conform to two curved surfaces at once meant that each piece was unique and no single strip had a straight edge. It was a lot of work but I enjoy using it immensely.

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