My intentions are to use the Glowforge to create veneered marquetry patterns to cover the top surfaces of the kayak down to the black rope line around the perimeter…
I have access to just about any veneer I need. The boat is 14’6" long and about 28" wide.
I have some ideas for designs, but am looking for the most jaw dropping statement possible.
For the winner of this challenge, I will send you either a hand carved santa or custom wood bird ornament for your Christmas tree: designed and made by yours truly. Your choice.
Picture is representative only, I have about 30 different designs.
Thanks and I hope this spurs some interesting ideas.
Trent
Find an Inuit legend. Lay out the story around the kayak. Use traditional designs to tell the story, without words. Fill in any extra space with a totem pole image. Use repeating motifs around the edges as borders.
Because of the single-color fields in traditional Inuit designs, this would lend itself well to the type of work you are considering.
You could use the same type of design with a Hawaiian/Polynesian theme if you prefer that, or maybe one of the old Celtic legends, though Inuit and Iceland/Greenland natives are the most traditional users of kayaks.
That kayak is very nice looking. Judging from your carved duck, your kayak is going to be stunning! what a great project. Where I come from (Puget Sound) Willits Brothers canoes were a work of art. What area of the country are you going to use this kayak and will it be ocean or fresh water mostly? Inquiring minds want to know. - Rich
Then something along the lines of Mississippi river history. Fur traders, Native Americans, River boats…instead of paddles you could put hand cranked paddle wheels on each side…no, no…way out there. - Rich
I would look at some of the native art in the pacific NW. I think this art would lend itself to the marquetry you want to do and allow you multiple colors. The other feature is I would also engrave some of the marquetry, which is something not typically done in marquetry, but with this style could really set it off.
I have a thing for the indigenous art of the Northwest.
Stationed at NAS Whidbey, our new (1973) squadron VAQ 137, electronic warfare was looking for a mascot.
We decided on this…
Orcinus Orca figured prominently in the coastal cultures, with good reason.
A documentary of them showed a 6 ton male plow 20 feet onto the beach like a train and grabbed an 1,100 lb. seal in its mouth, turned around and belly flopped back into the water!
The sovereign ruler of the sea is not a great white, it’s a mammal, and it was well known to the natives that Orca’s realm extends beyond the water’s edge!
@printolaser, great Orca story. I was born and raised in Tacoma, WA within a stones throw of Puget Sound and the Narrows bridge. I saw Orcas many times cruising the Sound in search of their favorite meal…salmon. They are always awesome creatures to behold.
I second (or third the motion) for N.W. native art. It really is suited for lasering and your wood kayak. - Rich
If you want to do something around a Mississippi River theme, these maps of the historical traces of the Mississippi River look like they have some promise. Couldn’t work out how exactly, but they sure are pretty.
The map brings to mind these guys who track down sunken steamboats, that are now 30 feet deep in a farmer’s field a considerable distance from the river. Some with their loads still aboard.
Ok, thanks for the ideas. I will give this about 2 more weeks then declare the winner.
If anyone else wants to give it a try, now is the time.
Thanks again.
PS. the kayak kit arrived and I am building the bottom half. I am waiting on the Glowforge to do the veneer work. I could do it by hand, but want to see how the laser works for this project.
