From A Piece Of Wood
January 21, 2008
In the hands of a Master Craftsmen a piece of wood could be turned to the most bizarre crafts on earth. Some so beautiful and rare that they are considered a dead artform that could not be reproduced by the modern men. What do I mean by this? A piece of a 300 year old house with its carving done from that century could cost abour USD 300,000 for one square metre. Unbelievavable? Believe it.
The newer generation could not copy this art to the style and grace of the olden days but yet they are trying their best . Todays artwork is more in the sense of scultures such as below .
This kind of scultures could be found at many places at prices that ranges according to its size. But there are also the craftmen here in Malaysia that still tries to follow the artform of the olden days which is carving. A remarkable work is as below.
This is a replica of a window sill from the Straits of Melaka. During the days of the Javanese occupation. The artwork itself could be seen on many houses till today in Melaka the land of History. All these from a single piece of wood.
The forest have given us much to adorn and awe to make sure that you are not promoting deforestation I would suggest that you buy your wood products from sources that declare their wood products as fallen trees and not chopped down trees. I am not so sure whether you are able to get this kind of information anywhere else but as a tree lover myself I will only sell products that are from fallen trees and one piece crafts . You are able to purchase most of the Malaysian crafts through our online shop which will be up before February 2008. This delay is due to the fact that we would want to make sure that our customers are getting the best products at the best prices.
The Definition of Wood
January 21, 2008
Wood is a hard, fibrous, lignified structural tissue produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. This tissue conducts water to the leaves and other growing tissues and has a support function, enabling plants to reach large sizes. Wood may also refer to other plant materials and tissues with comparable properties.
Wood is a heterogeneous, hygroscopic, cellular and anisotropic material. Wood is composed of fibers of cellulose (40%–50%) and hemicellulose (15%–25%) impregnated with lignin (15%–30%).
Wood can be cut into straight planks and made into a hardwood floor (parquetry).
Wood has been used for millennia for many purposes. One of its primary uses is as fuel. It is also used as for making artworks, furniture, tools, and weapons, and as a construction material.
Wood has been an important construction material since humans began building shelters, houses and boats. Nearly all boats were made out of wood till the late 1800s, and wood remains in common use today in boat construction. New domestic housing in many parts of the world today is commonly of timber-framed construction. In buildings made of other materials, wood will still be found as a supporting material, especially in roof construction and interior doors and their frames and exterior cladding. Wood to be used for construction work is commonly known as lumber in North America. Elsewhere, lumber will usually refer to felled trees, and the word for sawn planks ready for use will be timber.
Wood unsuitable for construction in its native form may be broken down mechanically (into fibres or chips) or chemically (into cellulose) and used as a raw material for other building materials such as chipboard, engineered wood, hardboard, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), oriented strand board (OSB). Such wood derivatives are widely used: wood fibers are an important component of most paper, and cellulose is used as a component of some synthetic materials. Wood derivatives can also be used for kinds of flooring, for example laminate flooring.
Wood is also used for cutlery, such as chopsticks, toothpicks, and other utensils, like the wooden spoon.
The Pounded Nugget Of Silver
January 21, 2008
Silver when it is in its natural look will not carry much weight for the eyes of the beholder. Look below and you would say hmm.. looks like just another piece of metal. As always click for a larger image if you need to see it.
Doesnt look like much huh. But in the hands of the Malaysian artist this piece of silver can turn out to be a multitude of things such as a brooch, earrings, rings, buttons and much more. Look at what this 63 year old silver artist has done with his nugget .
Now doesnt that look beautiful. This is all handcrafted and not machine made. Thus the delicacy of this job could be seen from the finer details of his craftsmanship.
Silver could also be used for home decorations such as vases, book holders and much more. Looking at another artist with his silver nugget in this case maybe many more silver nuggets and look at the tall vase that he has created with it.
This is another example of how well the Malaysian craftsmen use their hands to create the most beautiful objects.
The Definition Of Silver
January 21, 2008
Silver is a very ductile and malleable (slightly harder than gold) monovalent coinage metal with a brilliant white metallic luster that can take a high degree of polish. It has the highest electrical conductivity of all metals, even higher than copper, but its greater cost and tarnishability have prevented it from being widely used in place of copper for electrical purposes, though it was used in the electromagnets used for enriching uranium during World War II (mainly because of the wartime shortage of copper). Another notable exception is in high-end audio cables, although the actual benefits of its use in this application are questionable.
Among metals, pure silver has the highest thermal conductivity (only the non-metal diamond’s is higher), whitest color, the highest optical reflectivity (although aluminium slightly outdoes it in parts of the visible spectrum, and it is a poor reflector of ultraviolet light). Silver also has the lowest contact resistance of any metal. Silver halides are photosensitive and are remarkable for their ability to record a latent image that can later be developed chemically. Silver is stable in pure air and water, but tarnishes when it is exposed to air or water containing ozone or hydrogen sulfide. The most common oxidation state of silver is +1 (for example, silver nitrate: AgNO3); a few +2 (for example, silver(II) fluoride: AgF2) and +3 compounds (for example, potassium tetrafluoroargentate: K[AgF4]) are also known.
Now that you are done with the Silver education let us continue on to the next post where the art of Silver crafting is used to create wearable designs as well as decorations.
How is Batik Done
January 21, 2008
Melted wax is applied to cloth before being dipped in dye. It is common for people to use a mixture of bees wax and paraffin wax. The bee’s wax will hold to the fabric and the paraffin wax will allow cracking, which is a characteristic of batik. Wherever the wax has seeped through the fabric, the dye will not penetrate. Sometimes several colors are used, with a series of dyeing, drying and waxing steps.
Thin wax lines are made with a canting needle, a wooden handled tool with a tiny metal cup with a tiny spout, out of which the wax seeps. Other methods of applying the wax onto the fabric include pouring the liquid wax, painting the wax on with a brush, and applying the hot wax to precarved wooden or metal wire block and stamping the fabric.
After the last dyeing, the fabric is hung up to dry. Then it is dipped in a solvent to dissolve the wax, or ironed between paper towels or newspapers to absorb the wax and reveal the deep rich colors and the fine crinkle lines that give batik its character.
The invention of the copper block or cap developed by the Javanese in the 20th century revolutionised batik production. It became possible to make high quality designs and intricate patterns much faster than one could possibly do by hand-painting.
Indonesian batik used for clothing normally has an intricate pattern. The traditional ones carry natural colors while the contemporary ones have more variety of color. Some batik may be mystic-influenced, but very rarely used for clothing. Some may carry illustrations of animals and people.
This is the old way of Batik making. The latest designs call for a more artistic look. The latest Batik’s also uses the wax method but this time it is hand waxed to perfection. The artist would use his imagination when he uses the wax to paint his favourite pictures of flowers leaves and also pattern. This would create sort of an art piece on a cloth. Then he would colour this cloth using dyes of different colours according to his painting. Thus making each piece a one in the world piece. No two Batik’s of this nature is the same. Although you may get many variants of the same painting.
The art of Batik dying could be seen as below. For a larger photo do click on the image.
