a marquetry artist
To be surrounded by a host of creative individuals from an early age is a wonderful thing.
As we grow and develop our minds, we look to the future as to what direction we might take. Olivia’s family were all creatives themselves from a couturier, an architect and a digital artist,
so she never questioned the fact that one day she too would follow in a similar direction.
Olivia’s choice on the creative front in the first instance was a degree in fashion womenswear at Central St. Martins but shortly after graduating from there, her thoughts turned towards a different direction in life. Fashion by its own admission is seasonal and to some degree is a throw away industry but Olivia wished to create something that would last so much longer than that. Olivia told me “ St. Martins gave me the confidence to explore new materials and I dived into marquetry, imagining my pattern cutting knowledge would transfer itself across tp create something that would last longer than that.”
“It was my experience within the world of fashion that gave me the desire to make something that would last beyond a season”
Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term “Marquetry” as I was, please allow me to explain briefly - Marquetry is the art of applying pieces of veneer to a surface or structure to form intricate and decorative patterns and then those decorative patterns can be applied to furniture pieces. I had no idea just how detailed & intricate this process was until I met Olivia and saw her at work.
What was very evident from the moment when I did meet Olivia was her calming nature and this real eloquence about her. When you look at how very precise and detailed her work is, only someone with those kind of characteristics could pull this kind of work off. Her work place seemed to form this calming element as well, just by its bright design with this lovely Georgian picture window, framing the garden outside that brought natural light in. A space where she often sits in and reflects on life. I was really surprised to see just how detailed this kind of marquetry work is and how long Olivia was prepared to work on such a piece, in some cases months at a time. Her work is beautiful and utterly unique and different in every design.
A final quote here from Olivia if I may and that is this “ Being by the sea and surrounded by nature is essential to me and my work and the amazing wealth of creative people is so inspiring”. That’s Cornwall for you! Thank you Olivia. RD
