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Woodworker turns to intarsia for challenging hobby

Unique art form is similar to painting with precisely cut pieces of wood
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Colour and depth in Chapman's intarsia are achieved by using different species of woods and sanding pieces to varying heights.

Keith Chapman of Canim Lake likes to stay busy, and since retiring from the heavy construction industry 15 years ago, he's been immersed in a hobby that chisels away at his leisure time, but also provides him with satisfaction and a little extra cash.

The woodworking craft of intarsia is what keeps Chapman in his shop for hours at a time. He notes that a double garage on his property was converted into a woodwork shop several years ago, leaving his car to sit out in the yard under a tent.

He calls his work artistry in wood, but the technique is similar to inlay work. Each finished piece is like a painting, but instead of using paints, he pieces together precisely cut pieces of wood to create a picture.

Chapman has always enjoyed working with wood, and before trying intarsia, he built cedar strip canoes, roll-top desks and all sorts of furniture. He learned his new craft by following instructions in a book; much in the same way he taught himself how to master several other crafts.

"If there's a challenge in it, that's what I do. It keeps me away from television."

The 74-year-old figures he's made at least 200 intarsia pictures, first finding a pattern he likes and sometimes modifying it to suit his own taste. The choice of design is largely based on the wood he has available, with colour and grain patterns the real deciding factors.

He is always on the lookout for interesting scrap wood pieces and generally has about 15 varieties on hand at any time. They differ so much that he doesn't have to rely on staining the pieces to get contrast in his intarsia work.

A pattern averages 15 pieces for a small one and 50 for a medium, but much depends on the intricacy of the design. The most complicated one he's tackled had 300 delicate pieces.

Serious thought is put into choosing the different woods to be used and he refers to a black and white photo of his design to help translate the colours into shades. Chapman especially likes cedar because colours vary from white to nearly black.

Each wood piece is hand cut with a scroll saw and then meticulously sanded, using both electric sanders and hand sanding. Some of the pieces are ground down to varying heights to create depth.

His final step in the process is to carefully glue the pieces onto a thin plywood backing. From that point, the piece goes to his wife, Jean, who does the fine sanding.

"She's a little more finicky. She always finds something to sand down."

The finishing touch is a minimum three coats of clear polyurethane, applied by Jean, which both protects the wood and enhances the colour and grain pattern.

Intarsia is demanding work that differs with every piece and Keith says he is hooked.

"It takes time, but I'm not one to sit and stagnate in front of a television."

The finished intarsia projects could really pile up if he didn't concentrate on selling a few.

He has done a number of commissioned pieces, including several of show dogs. Some have been sent out of country as far away as South Africa, Australia and the United States.

At one time, he was part of a crafters' group of about 30 local people who collectively produced maps showing the location of each shop. The maps displayed a circle route people could follow and make stops along the way to shop. The group folded several years ago, leaving Keith to seek out craft fairs to sell his goods, and while he enjoys the fairs, he also likes to get together with other woodworkers to share ideas or exchange scrap wood.

He's inviting anyone who is interested in talking about woodwork or learning how to do intarsia to give him a call.

"Men or women who want to use their scroll saws – I will teach anyone."

Contact him at 250-397-2165.