Artwork for Kevin Stamper
Marquetry Boxes
Construct Cabinet and Coffee Table
Botanical Drinks Cabiet
Bouquet Jewellery Box
Drifted Veneer Sculpture
Serving Trays
Blue Cubist Side Tables
Hibiscus Jewellery Box
Details
I see my work as a unity of form and proportion combined with surface decoration. Both are equally important to me - a simplicity of line set against colour and pattern that hopefully leads to a unified piece, whether it's a simple box or a more complicated cabinet. Marquetry holds such endless possibilities to create designs and patterns, a hit of colour that can make a piece unique and spectacular.
I take great joy in the creation of an artifact, whether it be big or small. The pursuit of a perfect line, a closed joint or a smooth finish is what keeps me coming back for more. Wood is such a beautiful and tactile material that I'm constantly captivated by it, the possibilities are endless and only limited by imagination. Wood can also be a very difficult medium - experience and practice reveals its secrets but I'll never stop learning its ways.
I use contemporary and traditional marquetry techniques to craft collectable boxes, mirrors, serving trays and other small pieces of furniture from solid wood and decorative wood veneers. The boxes are lined with brightly coloured faux suede and all materials are from FSC sustainable sources.
I have created a unique process to hand-dye sycamore veneers, achieving bright and lustrous colours that are used to make beautiful and unique marquetry designs that feature on my work. Each piece of work is finished with a smooth acrylic lacquer that protects it from scratching and the fading effects of ultraviolet light.
I work fulltime in my workshop near Malvern, working by myself to explore ideas and designs in solid hardwoods and decorative veneers.
I run short group courses on contemporary marquetry, showing individuals how to cut and join veneers with a scalpel and a fret saw to produce a finished item in a day.
I also offer longer term individual courses on a one-to-one basis.
I originally trained as an Art, Design and Technology teacher and started my my own workshop in 1992. Over the years I have employed a number of makers and produced many free-standing and fitted items of furniture from dining tables and chairs to wardrobes and home offices. I now work by myself and have the freedom to explore my ideas in any direction. I have twice won the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers Design Award and was presented with the New Ashgate Gallery Design Award in 2023. I am a Crafts Council Directory member and a Fellow of the Society of Designer Craftsmen. I live and work near Malvern, Worcestershire.
London Craft Week - The Future of Craft
Decorex International, London
Festival of Crafts, Farnham Maltings, Surrey
UnFamiliar, Oxmarket Gallery, Chichester
Bright Horizons, Oxmarket Gallery, Chichester
Blue Magpie, Elmslie House, Malvern
Artifex, Sutton Coldfield
Dansel, Abbotsbury, Dorset
Paul Smith, Mayfair, London
TwentyTwentyOne, Islington, London
Kobi And Teal, Frome, Somerset
Fitch & Fellows, Thame, Oxfordshire
Frivoli, Chiswick, London
New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham, Surrey
Weston Park, Weston-under-Lizard, Shifnal
White Chalk Gallery, Devizes, Wiltshire
