PICTURES MADE OF WOOD

Hawera Star, Volume LII, 30 January 1933, Page 7

PICTURES MADE OF WOOD

JOINER’S MASTERPIECE. TREE WITH 2000 PIECES. . London may soon see an exhibition of the work of one of the niost unusual artists in the world—a Southampton joiner who ‘ 'paints” pictures with pieces of "wood. He is Air Leonard Small Durkin. His work has attracted the attention of many prominent people, and it is hoped that it may be shown in London. A sheet of three-ply wood forms Air Durkin’s “canvas.” This is specially selected, for the graining forms an important feature in obtaining sky effects and foregrounds. Using nine types of tools and 30 kinds of -wood, the joiner-artist inlays his pictures piece by piece. Some of the pieces of wood that have been used were no bigger than the head of a small pin; some of the strips were as fine as a pencil -line. All light and shade effects are obtained by selecting the right grain markings. No joins can be detected in the finished pictures, which are coated with clear white polish and framed in ebony. Each of Air Durkin’s pictures represents nine months’ work. He spends most of his leisure time at his hobby, and recently he was at work -on what he believes will be his masterpiece. Only one corner of the picture, showing a tree in leaf, has been finished, but- a 1 read 3' over 2000 pieces- of wood (have boon used. Air Durkin stated that the idea of making wood pictures came to him 3 r ears ago when he was looking at a coloured postcard giving a glimpse of old •Southampton. “I said to my wife: 'I could make a picture like that with wood,’ ” he said, "and I started on it right away r . I made many little mistakes, but learned b3 r them, and now , I have finished a series of pictures of the oldest- parts of Southampton. I | used photographs in an old guide book . for my models for the nrst half-dozen . pictures I did, but now I make pictures from my own photographs.”