Intarsia is a technique of creating objects by inlaying and shaping the various pieces of the composition. Unlike marquetry, which is flat, it can often have a 3 dimensional aspect, especially with wood.

I made this for my brother for Christmas. I obtained the pattern from Gale Roberts (http://intarsia.com/). Several paper copies were made of the vellum provided. One was used to cut out the 5mm plywood backing with the scroll saw.

Clamping irregular small pieces can be a bit of a challenge – especially if you can get access to both sides of the work. My lead ingots provide a good deal of weight on a small area.
I used a variety of different wood species in this project, they included; western red cedar for the wings, aspen for the beak and neck stripe, Brazilian cherry for the head and back, walnut for parts of the neck and poplar for the wings. Western Red Cedar provides a tremendous variety of shades by just doing judicious wood and grain selection.

The 3 dimension aspect of the pieces is obtained by sanding the individual pieces and beginning with different stock thicknesses. I used a combination of drum and hand sanding in this project.

I used a wood burner (as suggested in notes on the pattern) to add additional accents to the pieces.

I finished the piece with Watco natural danish oil. it really makes the different wood colors pop, and helps accentuate the choices made in wood grain orientation.