Last week we had the privilege of having the world-renowned veneering expert Scott Grove at the school.

Scott, from New York State, is also an artist and craftsman who continues to pioneer new approaches to artistic expression and furniture design, and has been coming to the Chippendale school for several years now to teach our professional course students the intricacies of marquetry and veneering.

In a single intensive week, Scott touched on over thirty different techniques, including marquetry, parquetry, radial cuts, curved forms, compound veneering, and all sorts of inlay materials from silver filigree, brass, paua shell and mother-of-pearl and more.

His philosophy is to expose the students to as many techniques as possible, while recognising that not every technique is for everyone.

“The great thing about the Chippendale school is that it is international, with students coming from all over the world,” he says.

“That allows students to see furniture design from many different cultural perspectives, and that can be incredibly beneficial to their own creativity,” says Scott.  “It’s always a pleasure to come here.”

He also believes that the standards of marquetry and parquetry seems to improve year after year, with students being shown the work of previous years and wanting to outdo them!

You can follow Scott on his YouTube channel and visit his website.

Pictured: Stephen Barr from Edinburgh shows off his craftsmanship