Intarsia

in-tar-sia: a mosaic of wood fitted and glued into a wooden support popular in 15th century Italy for decoration; also: the art or process of making such work.

Each work of intarsia is hand cut with a scroll saw, then each piece is individually shaped, sanded and polished and glued to a baltic birch backerboard. The pieces are then finished with three to four coats of gloss laquer (front and back) and fitted with a hanger or stand. I strive to make each piece as perfect as possible and to allow the grain of the wood to remain natural. No stains or colors are used and only the finest hard and softwoods are used. All of the hardwoods are Missouri native and obtained locally. The softwoods (white pine, aspen and western red cedar) are used for their white color and/or prominent grain to accent the pieces of intarsia.