Intarsia, Segmentation, and Marquetry
Have you ever wanted to know what intarsia, segmentation, and marquetry is all about? We will give a brief introduction to these fascinating scroll saw woodworking techniques and art forms.
In this article, we will provide the definitions and explanations for each of these techniques. We also provide some links to various resources for each of these methods including books, magazines, websites, patterns, tutorials, and how-to videos.
When I started scroll sawing a few years back, and even now I would look at intarsia pictures online by artists like Judy Gale Roberts, Kathy Wise, and Bruce Worthington (just to name a few) and be in awe of their work. I thought wow, I really want to learn how to do that.
The ability they have to take some pieces of regular wood and turn it into a painting is just awesome to me.
Let’s take a look at each one of these techniques.
What is Segmentation?
Segmentation is a method of using wood cut into various shapes to create a mosaic. The end result is kind of like a painting except instead of using paint, the wood is the paint. Segmentation is similar to intarsia except you can cut all of the pieces from one piece of stock and then paint or stain the individual pieces, shape, sand, and then fit them together.
As an example, using a pattern of a rose, you can place the whole entire pattern on a single piece of wood and then cut out all the pieces at one time. You then can shape, paint, or stain each piece accordingly and then put it back together like a puzzle. This method is a great way to make some very beautiful art quickly and inexpensively.
Segmentation Pros
- Most pieces can be cut from the same piece of wood. You can use paint, dye, or stain on less expensive wood allowing you a much broader selection of color choices.
- Since you can cut the pieces out from a single piece of wood, the cuts may be more accurate and may require less sanding.
- These factors will decrease the amount of time spent on the overall project.
Segmentation Cons
- Being stained or painted may take away some of the natural wood beauty and make it look more unnatural.
What is Intarsia?
: a mosaic usually of wood fitted into a support also : the art or process of making such a mosaic
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While similar to segmentation, intarsia is considerably more advanced and time-consuming. This is because instead of cutting all the pieces from one piece of stock, you use different species of stock to cut each piece according to the desired color.
As an example, if you are creating an intarsia project of a bird, you may require some of the feathers to be bright white while others to be a darker shade of white. You may also require some pieces to be light brown and some dark brown and some red, or yellow, etc. With intarsia, the colors of the project are inherent in the wood and not by using paint, stain or dye.
There could be some exceptions to this rule as there may be times that using artificial color may be necessary. As an example blue may be a difficult color to obtain.
I have used a black sharpie for the eyes in one of my intarsia projects in the past. The reason is I don’t have any stock that is naturally black and for something so small I can justify using a sharpie. There may be some purists that disagree with doing this however I am a novice so that is ok with me.
With intarsia, you also need to be conscious of the grain pattern of the wood. As an example, for your bird project, the feathers may require the grain to be in a certain direction. The grain pattern will affect the depth and will have a great effect on the overall quality of the project.
Intarsia Pros
- Natural wood, grain, color.
- Little need to paint or stain.
Intarsia Cons
- More time consuming
- Pieces can be much more difficult to fit
- Wood color can fade over time
- More expensive since some species of wood can be costly
What is Marquetry?
: decorative work in which elaborate patterns are formed by the insertion of pieces of material (such as wood, shell, or ivory) into a wood veneer that is then applied to a surface (as of a piece of furniture).
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As Bob Brokaw of Gwinnett Woodworkers Association says in a video, “marquetry is two-dimensional intarsia”.
Marquetry is similar to intarsia except that it does not require the shaping that is required of intarsia or segmentation to create depth.
Depth in marquetry is achieved by a process called sand shading. The sand shading process is done by using hot sand to darken the parts of the veneer as appropriate.
Sand Shading or Scorching: Is the art of applying heat to veneer in order to achieve shadow and depth in circumstances where it would not be possible to attain the required effect by inserting a piece of darker veneer into the work.
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Another aspect of marquetry that is different from intarsia or segmentation is the fact that you are working with very thin veneers of around 1/32 inch thickness or even thinner.
Not only can wood be used for marquetry, but just about any material can be used. There have been ancient furniture artifacts found that include inlaid metal, ivory, glass, and stones. This technique has been around since before the first century.
Modern Day Intarsia Artists
Judy Gale Roberts
Probably one of the most recognized names in the world of intarsia is Judy Gale Roberts. Working with intarsia since the early 1970’s Judy Gale Roberts has really been the most prominent pioneer in modern intarsia woodworking.
Judy offers many intarsia scroll saw patterns on her website including several free intarsia patterns designed for beginner and intermediate levels.
If you are looking for a beginner pattern, Judy’s intarsia whale pattern is a great choice to get started with intarsia.
You can visit Judy’s Website at https://intarsia.com/
Kathy Wise
Kathy Wise is a scroll saw artist and pattern creator from Michigan. She offers many intarsia scroll saw patterns on her website including several free beginner patterns.
Kathy’s website is located at https://wiseintarsia.com
Kathy’s Store is located at https://store7626357.ecwid.com/#
Garnet Hall
Garnet Hall is a scroll saw artist and pattern creator from Estevan, Saskatchewan Canada. His website, sawbird.com, offers several free beginner level intarsia patterns on his website including his orca pattern.
Garnet’s website is located at http://www.sawbird.com/
Bruce Worthington
Bruce Worthington is a scroll saw artist and intarsia pattern creator from Michigan. He has many intarsia patterns available on his website including a free Teddy Bear pattern and an intarsia tutorial e-book to go along with it.
Bruce’s website is located at http://www.intarsia.net/
Janette Square
Janette Square is an accomplished, internationally recognized intarsia artist pattern creator from Oregon. Her website includes a gallery and patterns for sale.
Janette’s website is located at http://www.square-designs.com/
Conclusion
We hope this has answered some questions that you may have had regarding Intarsia, Segmentation, and Marquetry.
Segmentation is a method of using stock cut into various shapes to create a mosaic usually cut out from one piece of stock and then dyed, stained, or painted.
While similar to segmentation, intarsia is considerably more advanced and time-consuming because each individual piece is cut from different species of stock to achieve the color desired.
Marquetry is similar to intarsia except that it does not require the shaping that is required of intarsia or segmentation to create depth. Marquetry is also a bit different from intarsia because you are working with very thin veneers of around 1/32 inch thickness or even thinner.
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Thank You and Happy Scrolling
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