This school is called the South West Center for Craftsmanship, (swcfc.org) is relatively new, and is based in Phoenix AZ, at a Luthiers workshop. The director is Raul Ramirez, a master craftsman dedicated to passing on knowledge and skills. There have already been several nationally known teachers (such as Michael Fortune, Frank Klaus, Doug and Rhonda Forsha, who are well known for the quality instruction they teach. I expect this school will continue to grow and flourish ! The marquetry class was attended by 8 people; one was a past student of mine, another arriving from the east coast. And all went smoothly. Everyone creating two or more projects over the five days, most original designs, as you can see in the following pics. The challenges we had were taming the dry and cracking veneer to work for us with this southwest environment. This hands-on class was followed by a two-day design class, where everyone got to develop one of their furniture ideas into a working drawing. All went well, and I will be returning in October to do a class on making a veneered wall cabinet!
