Sunday, February 24, 2008

Marquetry Yahoo Group

This group is familiar to some of us and is the place to go if you need answers to your marquetry related questions. There is another group, Marqueterie Yahoo Group, which serves its French-speaking members. You must be able to understand French to get anything out of it. In contrast it gives one the impression that the French take their marquetry serious.

The English group in 2007 had 168 messages from 284 members while the French group had 569 messages from 396 members. As might be expected the latter is devoted almost exclusively to traditional marquetry. Laser marquetry and vacuum bagging not spoken here. What is talked about is chevalet’s, scrollsaws, piece by piece method, patterns and finishing. I believe they have a higher percentage of women than the English group. This is good and there could be a reason for it. When a craft relies on technology to advance its boundaries, women seem to be excluded. This is a natural phenomenon and is not confined to any one group. There are exceptions because talent cannot be suppressed, but marquetry has never been accused of diversity.

I am a member of both groups and feel each has its merits. While one is easier to navigate than the other, the French group is more to my liking. It must be in my blood. My ancestors came from France during the 17th century. My Grandfather continued to speak native French and I learned some from him. I guess that makes me a Francophile.

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