Lael Gordon: Prismatic Patterns
Lael Gordon knows that the joy for him lay in making an exploration of each piece he builds; rather than struggle against that impulse in order to make money
Raised the son of a shipwright in southern Alaska, Lael Gordon was always comfortable with tools and machinery. He chose a teaching career, but took up woodworking as a hobby. As he got more serious about working wood, he took a year away from teaching to study furniture making at the Inside Passage School, a program near Vancouver based on James Krenov’s teachings. While there, Gordon began experimenting with what he calls “prismatics”–marquetry patterns created not in the usual manner, by using contrasting species of veneer, but simply by controlling and arranging the orientation of the grain in pieces of veneer of a single species.
After his year at Inside Passage, Gordon considered a career making furniture. But he recognized that the joy for him lay in making an exploration of each piece he built; rather than struggle against that impulse in order to make money, he decided to go back to teaching math at a technical college and devote his spare time and summers to new work in wood.
This slideshow was originally posted June 17, 2013 and updated June 1, 2018
More on FineWoodworking.com:
- Prismatic Patterns from a Single Plank by Jonathan Binzen, Lael Gordon #234–July/Aug 2013 Issue
- Patterns of Light by Lael Gordon, Jonathan Binzen #234–July/Aug 2013 Issue
- Assembling a Parquetry Pattern by Jonathan Binzen #246–Mar/Apr 2015 Issue
Comments
So cool. Thanks for posting this.
Master woodworking artist at the very least.... very impressive indeed. Tks. for this post. It's so refreshing to see new styles and different woodworking techniques.
The use of wood's lustre and the meticulous creation of a pattern from small parts reminds me of the work of Minneapolis' Tom Schrunk: http://www.thomasschrunk.com/page48/page48.html
Perhaps long, cold winters encourage this type of labor-intensive woodworking!
Truly amazing work. I wouldn't have thought of using end grain veneer. Thanks for sharing this.
I thought his work was amazing is some woodworker
Wow!
I loved the "live edge" branch incorperated into the panel.
Subtlety masterfully applied...
Outstanding! What attention to detail.
Have just finished reading Krenov's 'Notebook'..He would have been so pleased his philosophy continues.
pizzicato (Australia)
I'm so impressed with this ability. I love to read as many Fine Woodworking articles as I can to give me hope that some day I will have found my niche. Absolutely beautiful work.
So neat!
This is such a great example of hard work and dedication!
Such an elegant technique!
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