Contemporary Marquetry by Juli Morsella

“Flow” Designs for Interiors

Three new botanical designs:

‘Plumeria’

‘Ulu’

and

‘Fern’

Each one of these can be extrapolated upon to create a” flow” design, a branching plumeria or ulu wrapping around a room in a crown molding, a series of ferns in a wainscot.

They can all be used as part of a cabinet design too. The fern, a low growing plant, is a natural choice for elements such as low cabinets, bottoms of doors and wainscot, while the other two, being trees, would be more effective in higher areas such as upper cabinets.

Artistic Marquetry as an Architectural Component in Interior Design

Marquetry panels can absolutely transorm a kitchen into a completely unique space.

In this Photoshop composition, various botanical pieces with similar palettes were used: “Papaya”, “Elepaio on Koa”, “Ulu”,and “Fern”. The effect is warm and welcoming. Imagine an abstract composition, or rich dark woods….the cabinets become frames waiting to be filled with endless possibilities.

A Modern Kitchen Meets Marquetry

We are going to start presenting a series of photos of interiors altered  to show our wood veneer marquetry designs in interior spaces.

In this one a bold contemporary botanical design was used as an accent, balanced nicely by the neutral tone of the drawers. The marquetry design used here accentuates the contemporary feel of the kitchen,while  giving it a unique personality.

This being the magical world of Photoshop, one single panel was used repeatedly. If this were a project, the design could be repeated or , alternatively, a variation could be made in each panel. One way would be to  make subtle changes in the  marquetry composition; another would  be to use e different flower or plant for each panel, but in the same style.

This next photo shows this same kitchen with alternative designs:

Photoshoped images by Roy Hughes (www.sciarts.co.uk)

JM Veneer Design Introduced by Exotic Woodlines at Hawaii Expo

An exciting new development has been a collaborative relationship begun with furniture maker Exotic Woodlines.

These two pieces, the koa veneer kitchen counter with the kukui lei wood veneer elements and the bamboo design (made with a headboard in mind) were introduced at the  19th Annual Hawaii Lodging, Hospitality and Foodservice Expo 2010, and received much attention from the buyers present at the Expo.

Pat Savellano, master furniture maker with 22 years experience “and still learning”, is responsible for the stunning craftsmanship of these pieces. He manages a modern 6000 square foot shop with six wood workers. Their objective is to meet the customer’s budget while maintaining a high level of craftsmanship; they work on single pieces as well as in series.

The results exceeded my expectations. Both the veneer design and the furniture piece became more than what they would be if presented separately. They look truly beautiful together, enhancing each other mutually. We are looking forward with enthusiasm to continuing our collaboration.

retro science design

to achieve these 1950′s colours the following woods were used: macademia nut, hau, eucalyptus and mango, all from Hawaii.

Mock-ups for Cabinet Doors

I imagine this one as an element in a mural design that incorporates all of the cabinets in a kitchen, say a kitchen that wraps around three walls of the room, so you have a tropical garden all around, visible only on the cabinets, but all cohesive elements in a  single mural. The effect would be dramatic. Flowers and other ground plants could be represented on the bottom cabinets, and parts of trees (mango, breadfruit, banana…) on the top ones. Birds and other wildlife could be part of the design as well. Imagine your first cup of coffee in an environment like that!

Kitchens and art are rarely envisioned together because, once the cabinets go up, there is not much wall space left usually, and also because cooking and the kind of cleaning a kitchen requires are a deterrent. These concepts use surfaces that always exist in a kitchen, and are finished in Green finishes strong enough to be recommended for gym floors (and kitchen cabinets).

This design is fun for it’s versatility. Besides the fact that it can be more or less detailed, and done in many palates of wood colours, it can be circular, a strip, an edge, a moulding, and much more. I have used this basic design, inspired by Paul Klee, on mirror frames, as a decorative edging on shelving,  and on boxes.

Go to drawings and models for more ideas.

Wood Veneer Art on Cabinet Doors

These four options were created with an African art collection in mind, which they were meant to reflect and harmonize with. Each of the designs could be taken on their own and expanded upon, or could be mix and matched with the others.If you clic on th eimage , you will see that, especially with the third piece, a lot of detail was added by filling thin carved grooves with tinted mineral pastes, an unusual technique developed by this design studio. (Please note that the frames were made of reclaimed woods of various types and were not designed to match!)

This is the realization of the line drawing “desert signs” to be found in the drawings and models” gallery. This design, being quite strong, would also work well alternating with blank cabinets.

This can also be found in the line drawing section and is called Black Box. This soft versatile abstract would also work well on a door or wainscot.