Scroll Saw Village

Lath art has really caught my imagination. I like the rustic/folk art feel that it provides. Since there isn’t a lot of information about this great American folk art, I’m always excited to see a new website pop up. Rod Skramstad from Classic Lathart has a number of pictures of his one-of-a-kind creations. His lath art paintings range from simplistic to intricate. Each piece full of personality and stories waiting to be unveiled. While he doesn’t sell patterns, his work is certainly inspiring. Check it out. And be sure to read the history of lath art on the front page. Very interesting reading.

Here’s a fun site for you compound cutters! Bill and Kathy Coons from Wood Lovers Shop has a creative way of turning a generic compound cut figurine into something extra special. These figurines have two images, depending on which angle you look at it. They have a video of the figurine turning on their website. Just like magic, the image comes together before your eyes. They have cut a number of these designs for their customers. I don’t think they offer their patterns, but this clever idea can easily be adapted for your own designs. Check it out. While you’re there, check out some of their other great products. A very talented team, indeed.

Update: Thanks to the Anonymous poster in the comments section below, it turns out these patterns are available from Sam Keener’s book 128 Compound Scroll Saw Patterns. So if you like to try your hand at these patterns, check out his book!

Here’s a great gallery for you intarsia/segmentation artists. This gallery shows the work of Pictures In Wood from Cambridgeshire, UK. They do a lot of custom work and primarily use pine because it’s an easily renewable resource. They depend on staining the wood with acrylic so the grain shows through and really bring the project to life. Its amazing the vibrancy they are able to achieve with their color. They do remarkable work. Definitely worth checking out.

Sometimes you come across a project and all you can say is, “Wow.” Robin from WoodWirtz has several pictures of her work that is really remarkable. Including this fireplace screen with 5664 interior cuts. She embellishes the woodcut with an airbrush. She uses watercolors so the wood grain shows through. It is a beautiful technique that makes a very unique finish piece. Take a look!

Are you itching to cut a few portraits? If so, I’ve got a site for you! Brenda Herthel from BigWood2LittleWood has a huge collection of designs that will keep you busy for the next year! With over 150 free patterns to choose from, you’ll have a tough time trying to figure out which one to cut first! Each pattern is in JPG format and high enough resolution for easy scaling. They are organized very well so you can find what you want with ease. While you’re there, check out the rest of her site. She has a some nice sections like her own gallery and finished projects from her readers. Very cool.

I learn best by example and demonstration. That’s why I love progression pictures and tutorials so much. So I was pretty excited when I saw Christopher Hildebrand’s set of progression pictures as he puts together a lath art painting of a horse grazing. He makes a few comments about each photo. The photos are high resolution, which makes it easy to see the details and is really quiet helpful in understanding how a lath art painting is put together.

Chris also has another set of progression pictures in his personal gallery as he puts together a golf course scene. Many of these pictures also have comments This 9 picture set breaks down each step a little bit more, which I find especially helpful.

So if lath art painting is in your future, be sure to check out Chris’ two sets of progression pictures (set 1, set 2). I bet you’ll learn a lot just by watching him work!

One thing that amazes me most about scrolling, is the number of art forms that develop because of this simple tool. I came across Lath Art a while back and found it very interesting. Lath Art is a folk art that uses, oddly enough, lath. You know, those strips of wood used to hold plaster to the wall? Sometimes you’ll find fishermen using old lobster traps whereas more contemporary artists may use lattice or lumber stickers.

Lath art is similar to marquetry in that you use various shapes of wood to create a picture. Where marquetry relies on wood grain and color to define the picture, lath art relies on the position and direction of the lath strips to define detail and space. Each strip is cut into sections with the scroll saw, then individually colored. Before long, you have a wonderful piece of artwork to hang on your wall.

Lath Art Paintings has several examples of lath art. Take a look. You can really see how the direction of the lath makes all the difference in the world. It really is a fascinating art form and something that scrollers may want to try their hand at.

We’ve looked at a couple of scherenschnitte galleries in the last couple of posts. Karin’s work has a folk art feel that’s obviously inspired by folk and fairy tales. Cindy’s work tends to have a graphic art/illustration feel to it. Now lets take a look at artist Steven Gu.

Steven was born in Shanghai, China, but now resides on Vancouver Island. Much of his work has an Asian influence. But he also pays homage to the Victorian and Pennsylvania Dutch style in several of his pieces. His designs are very intricately detailed and rather delicate. This attention to detail reminds me of the work of scroll saw artist/designer Jeff Zaffino. Check out Steven’s gallery. You’ll be quite amazed at his craftsmanship and the beauty of his designs.

Cindy Mindy Pindy has a great blog that shows off her latest papercuttings. She has a assortment of scherenschnitte with a wide variety of styles ranging from abstract to traditional illustration. Take some time and look through her archives and check out her work. Its a great source of inspiration and may spawn a few ideas for your own scroll saw designs.

Scherenschnitte. Excuse me! Actually, scherenschnitte (shear-n-SNIT-a) is the German art of paper cutting that dates back to the 1500’s. Many of the principles of scherenschnitte are shared with scenic fretwork. You have to design the pattern in such a way that the finished cutting is one piece, but still retains the detail of a drawing. However, scherenschnitte tends to be more silhouette oriented and the cut design usually represent the shadows.

I have found a great gallery of scherenschnitte designs by Karin Dickel-Jonasch. Her main website is in German, and since the website is flash based, translation tools won’t help. But her gallery is fantastic. Here’s a direct link to her gallery. Its really neat to look at these type of designs, as they’re much more unusual than the patterns we typically create. It definitely has its own aesthetic and her designs obviously have reference to folk and fairy tales. Take a look. I think they’ll really be a great inspiration to some of your own designs.