Farmland (left) and Cabin. Tom Livingston, artist. Photos by Mallory Zynda
By Gina Malone
For Tom Livingston, who creates meticulously detailed intarsia pieces using a variety of woods and finishes, no detail is too small or inconsequential in the creative process. “One of my pieces features nuthatches, utilizing sharp lines and a gleaming eye highlight to portray their bossy and busy personality,” Tom says. “The highlight in the eyes is a tiny piece of white aspen sharpened to approximately the size of a pencil lead.”
Hot Air Balloons. Photo by Mallory Zynda
Tom grew up in Bryson City, the youngest child of parents who were educators and small business owners and who instilled in him an appreciation for quality handmade items. “My interest in wood has evolved over decades,” he says, “first sparked by sitting with my father as he worked turning candlesticks, making picture frames, planters and many other items in his woodshop many years ago. Additionally, I often sat at my mother’s elbow as she selected fabrics, manipulated patterns, constructed garments and drapes, and worked on tatting and crochet projects.” Later, after college and a 35-year career as a construction estimator and project manager, he turned his own hand to fine craft and found that what he had observed long ago had influenced his creative eye. “My mother’s eye for design and creative use of patterns and my father’s knack for woodworking meshed nicely in my passion, intarsia,” he says.
Intarsia involves selecting wood pieces, cutting them, shaping them and then securing them to a backboard as a complete and coherent image composed of the individual pieces. “When people think of pictures created using wood, this usually evokes a mental image limited to drab brown tones,” Tom says. “My personal intarsia style is characterized by my use of many wood species [more than 40 varieties] and natural coloring. Using this wide range of species allows me to create pictures with tones of many colors, while still maintaining the beautiful appearance of natural wood.”
Along with visual appreciation, Tom invites tactile exploration of the “undulating rises and falls and the varying textures in the pieces.” He creates works large enough to hang on the wall such as his signature oak leaf motifs and ones small enough to display on bookshelves or hang on Christmas trees.
“As my business name Piece by Piece Intarsia implies, each piece is painstakingly hand selected, cut, shaped, varnished and secured to take its place in a completed work of intarsia,” Tom says. His first step in creating a new work is selecting a pattern that interests him or evokes memories. The patterns are black line, similar in appearance, he says, to a child’s coloring book page. He uses a black-and-white copier to enlarge, reduce or manipulate patterns, but, after that, every bit of the process is by hand—cutting out the carefully selected wood pieces with a scroll saw; shaping and softening them with sanders, Dremel tools and compressed air-driven hand carvers; and adding fine detail with a wood burner. “It’s not uncommon for onlookers at craft shows to approach asking which computer program I use to aid the cutting and milling process,” he says. “They are always surprised to hear that no computer programs are involved and that each piece is hand cut under magnification and uniquely shaped for cohesion in a specific work.”
Oak Leaf Motif. Tom Livingston, artist.
Photos by Mallory Zynda
A 2006 beginner’s workshop with intarsia master and teacher Judy Gale Roberts furthered Tom’s interest in woodworking and sparked a passion for intarsia. He went on to take intermediate and advanced workshops as well. His wife Fran, a supporter of his art from those early days, often helps him with the varnishing that protects the pieces from moisture and temperature variations and enhances the natural luster of the woods used. “She has also helped me sweep many pans of wood dust over the years,” he adds.
During warmer months, he exhibits and sells his work at a number of crafts shows throughout the region, including in Weaverville, Waynesville and Brasstown. In Hendersonville, Art MoB Studios & Marketplace displays his work. “The artful way that Mr. Livingston manipulates wood creates a stunning work of art in any subject he chooses,” says Art MoB owner Michele Sparks. “It is a visual feast for the eye.”
To learn more, visit PiecebyPieceIntarsia.com or call 828.665.2600. Art MoB Studios & Marketplace is located at 124 4th Avenue East in downtown Hendersonville. Call 828.693.4545 or visit ArtMobStudios.com.
