Vaneers

I sanded down some pine veneers from 3mm to 1.8mm then glued 5 veneers together. These I placed on a former I'd made from MDF and stuck them in a vacuum bag. 
I ended up with three pieces, two for the doors and one piece for the drawers. I skinned them with 4mm of sheoak on either side, this gave me 20mm thick doors. The veneers inside the doors/drawers  gave me the extra strength I needed when I carved the outside,  I de-stress the outside so that moves.
The doors have not moved since carving

Drawers

Jigs had to be made so I could make the grooves in the back of the drawers. 
Nothing was flat, everything was curved.

Frame & Panel

One of the criteria for this cabinet was to include a frame and panel.  The back panel.

Hidden Spirit Timber

The sheoak was sourced from Forest Products Commission auction in Harvey and stored until needed.
The timber on the door and draw front was all from one board, so they're all the same colour. I didn't remove the sap wood from the boards as I wouldn't have had enough wood, also sap wood is part of timber, why not include it.
I used too much timber, it took a lot of timber to make this cabinet.

The cabinet carcass - upside down

Upside down cabinet

Showing the base and start of bottom curve 

Middle shelf curve 

Hidden Spirit

The timber chosen was Western Australian sheoak. It would have looked good in jarrah but I wanted to get away from using that, also a white timber would have looked good.  If I had used a white timber for the carcass I then would have used a dark timber for the veneers, or kept all the veneers white, making the carving not embellishment the main focus. 
That would have defeated the purpose of calling the cabinet "Hidden Spirit"

Hidden Spirit

When drawing the cabinet I had know idea how difficult it would be to make.

 It dawned on me how difficult this exercise was going to be when I started making the pine mockup. I drew the cabinet, made a marquette, made a scale model, but didn't do the draws. I still wasn't aware at that stage the monster I was to create.

The Brief

The cabinet had to have legs, (mine hasn't) a frame and panel, also a lock, doors, draws and incorporate another material which did not include hardware. I haven't really fulfilled the whole brief, I haven't incorporated other material or legs, but in saying this there obviously is a bit of give and take and as my cabinet has other elements they agreed for me to go ahead.
The cabinet has 2 doors and 4 draws, the brief being it had to have at least 2 draws. I chose 4 drawers as the cabinet would have looked funny with 2 large drawers.

Hidden Spirit

I had all the ideas for hidden spirit and had to pull them all together but with the added element of carving through the veneer or skin exposing the pine veneer underneath then embellishing it with a coral form. That was always going to be part of the cabinet, adding another dimension/feature. This was also a backup just in case I did carve through the veneer.

Judges Comment

Sharon Tassiker and Ric Spencer's comments


The work is compelling and intense
It achieves a fine balance between the material and the intent of the artist.

South Western Times Survey 2012

The opening of South Western Times Survey 2012 was held at Bunbury Regional Art Galleries 11th  February 2012. Selector was Louise Morrison and judges were Sharon Tassicker & Ric Spencer.


The BHP BILLITON WORSLEY ALUMINA AWARD FOR EXECELLENCE 


CORAL SPIRIT