The class filled up the shop at the local Woodcraft Store in Phoenix, and was great!

These guys are an interesting group of woodworkers, and it was my first time working with them. They did so well, and produced a diverse set of panels, all of them excellent and everyone finished, some just in the nick of time! Raul hosted me and cooked great meals, and a past student, Marco , assisted in the classroom, made jokes, running errands and making this tight space workable for all. The people at Woodcraft and I had the tough job of judging the final panels that everyone designed and made, which was interesting given the level of artwork everyone did. The classifications were for the 'overkill' (most pieces used), most Challenging, most Humorous, most Unusual (design wise that is) and the best piece overall, which went to the frog on a limb.

Excellent class!

See the full gallery on Posterous

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The annual class at my shop here in Santa Barbara was quite successful, fun, fast-paced, and productive. Everyone made a couple of pieces, we did a group project, and Randy tackled an intricate ebony table. I have limited this class to 6 people, where we can spread out, and do many different things during the five days.The comments were 'fast paced', 'very informative', 'intense'. One of the students, Michael, blogged about the class on the Sawmillcreek.org woodworking forum. Free to sign up, big following with a lot of content....  here is the link to the blog, with a more in depth day-to-day commentary with pics, if you sign up:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?175490-Marquetry-Course-with-Paul-Schurch&p=1804970&posted=1#post1804970

Here are a few photos of the week.... 

See the full gallery on Posterous

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The class on 'Building a Game Table' that was held at MASW a couple of years ago was fading out for me but when this photo was just sent to me by a student, it brought back memories...I am amazed on the diversity of styles and designs. It was pretty funny, since we were suppose to have a set size, shape and task to do a table that would fit into a 2' x 2' x 3' cube, and as you can see, everyone did something completely different!  At least they were all tables.... 

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This was the 'Jewelry box with Marquetry' class at William Ng School of Fine Woodwork in Los Angeles, where everyone designed and built an walnut box with a marquetry lid. The different designs everyone generated were quite astounding!  Most had never done marquetry before and just about everyone finished their boxes by the fifth day.

The doggie box won first place (Check out the reflection of the eyes!) I will be doing this class next year, and again, it will be limited to twelve people.

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Here is the trailer for a PBS show featuring a piece I did with Tommy on ‘Rough Cut with
Tommy Mac’ it is a ‘Standing Mirror’ episode #207, which aired all over the country on November 12th. (Check your local PBS listings for rebroadcast dates)

Thomas J. MacDonald - Episode 07 – Standing Mirror

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I also just got some great feedback from a member of the San Diego Fine Woodworking Association, where I recently presented a 2.5 day seminar on "Veneer, Marquetry, and Furniture Design":

........Since joining the SDFWA, I have attended 6 of the last 7 Fall Seminars. While each of the past events have been well worth the price of admission, this year's event may be hard to beat! Paul is an excellent communicator and was very well prepared for his audience. What I really enjoyed was the scaled back scope of the project! We actually got to see the project go from design concept to finished product. Some of the previous projects were too much for the allotted period of time and it was disappointing to not see the entire process. I much rather prefer a scaled back project that gets completed! I also enjoyed Sunday afternoon's session during which Paul addressed a number of short marquetry/veneering related topics - edge finishing techniques, chess board, parquetry, etc. Topics were spot on and very informative. 
Thank you for all the hard work and effort that goes into the planning and execution of this annual event. Looking forward to next year's program!

Keep an eye on my upcoming educational workshops and seminars at schurchwoodwork.com/education

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I'll be at the Minnesota Woodworkers Guild in early November to teach a new class to explore the fundamentals of veneering and provide a methodical approach to working raw veneer into decoratively veneered marquetry panels using simple tools and techniques. Attendees will learn about basic and advanced veneer handling, cutting and joining techniques and gluing and vacuum pressing. The class will also cover designing with veneers, substrate selection, taping, gluing, pressing of curved and flat work, trouble shooting, and sanding and finishing.

Registration: Online Registration is now open.

Friday, November 4, 7-8 pm: Slide Show: "Marquetry, Traditional to the Contemporary"

Saturday, November 5, 9-4 pm: Seminar

Sunday, November 6, 9-4 pm: Seminar

Location: Dunwoody College of Technology, 818 Dunwoody Blvd., Minneapolis, Minnesota

Cost: $65.00 for members

Cost: $85.00 for non-members

Lunch: Box Lunch from D. Brians Deli. Turkey, beef or vegetarian sandwich with fruit, chips and cookie. Available both days for $10.00 per lunch. Purchase online when registering.

Registration: Online Registration is now open.

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Busy month! I'll be at the Ng School of Woodworking again in October, teaching "Jewelry Box with Marquetry" for FIVE DAYS!

Again, the max class size is just 12 students, so REGISTER NOW.

This class is an instructional hands-on five day workshop that will involve making a 10” x 15” x 4” high-end wooden jewelry box with a veneer marquetry design applied onto the top lid and completing it by the end of the week. I will cover the challenges and considerations of combining solid woodwork with veneer work, and give each student instruction and hands-on experience working with both mediums on this box project. The objective for this class is to understand the process of fine box design and create a beautiful and mechanically sound frame, make a wood marquetry picture using simple hand tools, a scroll saw, and use proven veneer assembly and glue-up techniques to complete the project. There will be a variety of marquetry patterns to choose from, or I will instruct you how to draw one, for use on your box project.

The first day will be dedicated to finalizing the box design, selecting the veneers and hardwoods each student will be using, and begin milling.

The second day will be dedicated to constructing the box, gluing it together, sanding, fitting the components and beginning creating the marquetry lid.

The third day we complete the marquetry and glue up the panel.

The fourth and fifth day we combine the panel and frame, hinge the lid, dress out the interior and finish the box with oil or lacquer.

REGISTER NOW for this exciting course!

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Please let me know if you have any questions about this class at : paul@schurchwoodwork.com and I look forward to working with you soon!

The maximum class size is only 12, so REGISTER TODAY!

Ng School of Woodworking 
1340 N. Dynamics, Unit H 
Anaheim, CA 
(714) 993-4215 
www.wnwoodworks.com

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I'll be at the San Diego School School for Creative and Performing Arts to address the San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association this weekend, September 16-17-18,  2011. Part of the event is free and open to the public, so I'd like to invite you to join me on Friday evening from 7-9pm when I'll lecture about "Intuitive Design". The San Diego School for Creative & Performing Arts is at 2425 Dusk Drive, San Diego, CA  92139.

Here are some inspirational notes on recognizing and honoring your Intuition:

• Honor and Respect your flashes and don’t label any as silly or coincidental.

      • Brevity and simplicity—Express your ideas from the intuitive mind briefly in a line or two.  Considerable talking or drawing belongs to the logical mind.

      • Symbol, picture, and imagery—the intuitive mind will turn on the images inside your head, or a sensation in the body. Can you the taste how the picture sounds?

      • Suspend assumptions—Use intuitive input as naively as possible without entertaining any preconceived notions. No Judgments.

      • When you are grounded and in the flow, first impressions are usually correct.

      • Faint stirrings—Respect the weakly articulated impressions as strongly as you do the loud raps of intuition.

      • Active-passive—Intuition can come passively, like a “flash out of the blue” or actively when you ask a question and patently wait for a reply.

      • Enhanced receptivity—Letting go of tension or stress helps you relax and receive the pictures, images and symbols sent by the intuitive mind. Practice: Music & Silence, Movement & Relaxation, Meditation & Complete Chaos.

      • Associate—Freely associating to the imagery sent by the intuitive mind will help you unravel the underlying meaning of the symbols.

• Playful moments—Enjoy the intuitive process.  Fun and levity weaken analysis and strengthen the intuitive flow. Combine whacky ideas, see what emerges.

Please join me from 7-9pm on Friday evening in San Diego!

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"Bustier de Bois"
A collaborative fashion project by Paul Schürch and Wesly Villaseñor

This project was conceived many years ago around a dinner table with several woodworkers, engineers, artists and creative designers, attempting to envision new ways to express beauty through art, and I, being the craftsman that is addicted to big challenges, said ‘How about high end, fashionable wooden clothing? ‘ When this statement was greeted with surprised silence and interested quizzical looks, I knew that there was something special about this idea. So began our research into the styles and materials that dictate the confusing world of fashion, what looks and feels good, building different prototypes, and learning more about veneer by pushing the limits, yet again. There are few examples of wood being used in fashion since 1929, (see photos), and has been seldom explored in the world of wearable art. 
I proceeded to develop the first of several designs, shaped wood milled brass, and Wesly doing cut and sew, in time for the first runway showing of the Zebrawood ‘Bustier de Bois’ in March 2011.
This outfit is made with Zebrawood veneer fitted with custom hardware made from brass and recycled rosewood. The lining, skirt and laces are made from Silk-Hemp cloth. Shoes and skirt pleats are laminated with Zebrawood veneer, and a turned bead of Zebrawood with brass accents secures the silk/hemp dress lace. The whole dress weighs less than 2.5 lb, including the shoes and hardware. This was well received.
This wearable art piece is surprisingly flexible and comfortable, fits well on a variety of body sizes, and the veneer bends easily for putting the dress on and taking it off. The closure system of brass ‘fairleads’ and silk/hemp lace is engineered for maximum movement of the torso, self-adjusting as the body moves walks or sits. 
I believe this dress is quite unique and may be the beginning of something that may leave its mark in the world of fashion. Wood has a warm feel and appealing familiarity that is foreign to this world of wearable art. To achieve the perfect fit, a wooden dress would best be custom fit the client, but as you can see here, the ‘Sassy Zebra’ seems to fit Sarah, Maya and Jai quite well…......

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This project called the ‘Funion’ and was started as an experiment in wind driven kinetic sculptural design and the effort to make it light weight enough that it would spin in wind. It worked quite well, and will most likely lead to larger pieces in the future.

         Its strength relies on the interlocking shape of the two-ply veneer walls for its strength, making the final wall thickness 1 mm, short of 1/16” strong enough to hold the shape. 

We made it an interactive piece, but it did require supervision at the event. The lines attaching the leaf collar to the crown, could be easily pulled and made fast to a cleat on the bottom, and the whole shape is mounted onto a lazy susan, and would begin spinning in 10 MPH wind. Pretty cool stuff, and a enjoyable project to work on. Many people said the experience being inside while it is closing, is interesting, sort of being in a Venus flytrap, or 16-pedaled flower that opens and spins.

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Much of current Stone Marquetry work is based in an Asian tradition called Parchin Kari, or Pietra Dura in Europe.

Stability was achieved by grooving the undersides of the stones so that they interlocked, rather like a jigsaw puzzle, with everything held tautly in place by an encircling 'frame'. Many different colored stones, particularly marbles, were used, along with semiprecious, and even precious stones. It first appeared in Rome in the 16th century, reaching its full maturity in Florence. Pietra dura items are generally crafted on green, white and black marble color base stones. Typically the resulting panel is completely flat, but some examples where the image is in low relief were made, taking the work more into the area of hardstone carving." (source)

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This marquetry and inlaid table of the fish caught in a whirlpool, http://www.schurchwoodwork.com/portfolio1/page56.html
is the top for this 29” diameter pedestal table.

When the top is rotated 90 degrees, four drawers pivot, or deploy open and closed on a cam mechanic mounted between the undersides of the table suspended over the drawer. The pedestal table will become a sushi table (of course!) A fun project, but quite critical with dimensions down to fractions of a millimeter with a hyper-exact need to mill all the parts properly. I really do not know if this thing will actually work, but am optimistic of the successful completion of this piece, and a fluid movement of all the parts!

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