With a drawing pencil that is attached to Natasha almost as well as her hand, sketching is how she has always explored her creativity. As marquetry became her medium, sketching continued to be the foundation of her creative process. … Continue readingIt Starts With A Sketch

Marquetry is a multi-step process that relies on templating. Once she is satisfied with a sketch and intending to use it for a marquetry piece, Natasha inks her drawing to create a template. … Continue readingThen It Gets Inked

Noted thinker Marshall McLuhan said the above words and they are certainly true of marquetry. Natasha believes that much of the art comes from the wood itself. The way the grain, texture, pattern and color move can emulate paint strokes, shading and other features of her work. She carefully selects wood species for each part of a piece, from a palette of woods from all over the world. … Continue reading“The Medium Is The Message”

Using her inked drawing as a template, Natasha uses a surgical scalpel to etch her piece onto a veneer background. … Continue readingEtching the Template

After using her scalpel to cut out an individual section of the background – often as small as a sliver – and make a “window,” Natasha scans her wood selection to find the area where the grain moves exactly the way she wants. This allows her to create the folds of a kimono or the feathers of a hummingbird wing using the natural movement of the wood. … Continue readingLooking Through the Window

One piece at a time, Natasha uses her scalpel to cut pieces of wood to fit into the windows. Repeating this process for each tiny section (even hundreds of times), she assembles the artwork piece by piece. … Continue readingPiece By Piece