Gary A. Leakegary.leake@att.nethttp://home.att.net/~gary.leake13 W. Morris Road, Coupeville, WA 98239
Type of artwork – what medium, how is it classified? Functional woodart pieces – aka woodart furniture
How long have you been an artist? Gary has been a woodworker for over 30 years and began to show his woodart approximately 10 years ago.
Artist’s statement: One-of-a-kind "Shaker-style and contemporary furniture pieces so unique that they are considered works of art.
What is interesting and distinctive about you and your artwork? Gary credits his Grandfather for nurturing what has become a keen appreciation for all things wooden. Many of Gary’s antique woodworking tools and skills were inherited from this wonderfully patient master cabinet-maker. Gary’s creative process can best be described as follows: Conceptual ideas float around in his head (sometimes for a day but often for years) until the magic moment when he finds that particular piece of timber that triggers the project. The wood’s natural character, which acts as a catalyst for moving the abstract idea to reality, truly drives the final design. Thus each artistic creation is truly unique. Each piece is carefully crafted by hand using many of the woodworking techniques and tools employed during the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. The resultant ‘feel’ and warmth of the wood can only be experienced by touching and caressing it. Touching of Gary’s art is indeed mandatory. Gary’s labors of love demonstrate his creativity as a contemporary artist and his woodworking skills. Each piece is given a unique name with the title of the piece, creation date and artist information permanently stamped on the underside of the piece. In addition, each piece includes a complete description similar to that attached for “Maple Mystique” that documents the particulars of creative process and construction related to that piece of woodart.
Why do you create? What are you passionate about? Gary is a woodworking artist whose passion is to search the countryside for a special one-of-a-kind, piece of timber, be it cherry (a favorite), maple, walnut or cocobolo, that has character (meaning highly figured, tigered, spalted, etc) and turn it into a finely engineered and ultimately beautiful piece of furniture, so unique it is considered a work of art. Gary's technique tends to be influenced by methods and styles of earlier times, using antique woodworking tools and skills (although he does use a bandsaw from time to time). Other influences: ancient Japanese joinery, "Shaker-style furniture, Colonial-style furniture, Early American hand tool techniques and a natural finish look. Moving to Whidbey Island in 2000 proved to be even more tempting for Gary to expand his horizons and express his artistic talent. In pursuit of his passion, he spends hours (and hours and hours - just ask Sandy) dreaming up ideas, finding that perfect piece of timber and finally creating a true work of art.
What projects are you currently working on? Any upcoming shows? Current projects include entries for the upcoming 6th Annual Whidbey Island Woodworkers Giuld ‘Woodpalooza’ Show (Sept 5 – 13), and numerous pieces to support the five art galleries that show and sell Gary’s woodart pieces. See website for more information.
What will guests see you doing at your studio during the Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour (OST)? The Tour will focus on the Artist’s woodworking shop with all of the requisite old tools, rough slabs of timber waiting their turn and eclectic clutter (some sawdust too). During the Tour, design and balance are discussed; and hand-cut joinery techniques are demonstrated – typically as an art piece is being build. A number of finished pieces will be on display.
Choose a piece that you will have for sale on the OST and describe why you created it, your feelings when you created it, and the process you went through.
"MAPLE MYSTIQUE"
American Bigleaf Maple
with
American Black Walnut
The absolutely stunning top plank of this very unique piece of art exhibits a wide variety of figured grain patterns and complexity that attest to the of magical charisma of nature…
The basis for this piece of wood art began with the discovery of the magnificent natural-edged hunk of highly figured burled American bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) that was utilized to create the tabletop. Though warped and twisted the timber showed just a teasing hint of the special character that lay underneath the ragged exterior - a marvelous combination of numerous burls, wavy vertical grain, randomly spaced cross-grain tigering, dark-streaked spalting and evidence of long-dead borers.
The book-matched table legs have been fabricated from a single plank of American black walnut (Juglans nigra) selected to contrast with and complement the intense color/grain of the upper and lower longitudinal surfaces. The success of the design depends upon precise hand-chiseled blind double-wedged (two hidden wedges per leg) mortise-and-tenon joints (Japanese jigoku-kusabi joinery technique) for permanent attachment of the legs to the upper slab. Blind mortise-and-tenon joints have also been utilized to permanently attach the short and long spreaders to the legs.
A smaller and more subdued piece of American bigleaf maple was selected for the lower-long spreader to add a bit of flash below the waistline without distracting from the overall design.
The table has been hand finished with a durable oil-varnish to highlight the natural color and protect the beautiful character of the maple and black walnut timbers while giving the table a warm feeling to the touch. As with all of his wood art pieces the title of the piece, creation date and artist information has been permanently stamped on the underside of the piece.
Dimensions: 46-3/4 inches in width
4-5/8 – 11-1/8 inches in depth (top)
11-3/8 inches in depth (overall)
30 inches in height
Artist: Gary A. Leake, Coupeville, Washington
Price: $2000
