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woodezine - Volume
III - Issue II - February 2005
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Turner of the Month
Sponsored
by the Klingspor
Michele LeMay
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One of the most exciting aspects of woodturning is that, apart from stand-alone items such as bowls and vessels, an artist can incorporate their turning into other art forms (such as furniture), or even incorporate other art forms into their turning. Lapidary is the art of cutting, shaping and polishing precious and semi-precious gems and stones, and our multi-talented turner this month, Michele LeMay, says that she "combines the art of lapidary with the art of wood turning. I combine domestic and exotic woods with semi-precious stones such as agate, jade and labradorite." |
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At left are some of Michele's polished cabochons and turned boxes. At right is labradorite, a type of feldspar found mainly in Labrador. |
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| "I work with both domestic (North American) and exotic woods, and sometimes combine the two. I like to incorporate my lapidary art into my woodturnings. I shape semi-precious stones (cabochons) to be inlaid into the lids of boxes. I also dabble with wood carving as I strive for the magical transformative process...Abracadabra I turn the wood into a cat! " |
 Mahogany wish boxes with carved cat heads |
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 Yellow heart pill boxes with inlaid Malachite Approx. 2.25 x 2 inches |
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 She Oak bowl Approx. 1.5 x 4.5 inches |
 Tarot box for round decks Maple/redheart with obsidian inlay |
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On the subject of lapidary, Michele has this to tell us... " Finding rough material is like a treasure hunt. Searching for rough material can take you on travels to mineral shows and quarries or to a variety of Web site stores and auctions. I obtain most of my rough from attending annual gem and mineral shows in Ontario. I also go on field trips and to local auctions. Cutting and shaping the rough requires special tools that can be purchased through lapidary suppliers. Circular saws with diamond impregnated blades will cut thick stones into thin slabs. These slabs are then trimmed on a smaller circular saw in order to prepare them for shaping. Shaping the stone to a desired form involves grinding with abrasives. Polishing is done on a felt wheel that has a polishing agent applied to it. I usually use a paste made up of water and tin oxide powder." |
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All text and images on this page are copyrighted and used with the artist's permission. |
