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Lois Keneer Ventura's Bandsawn Boxes |
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First, Lois wanted a unique woodworking creation to display at juried art shows and contests, where artists must create all their pieces from their own original designs, rather than from someone else's patterns. But she also wanted a design that would allow her greater artistic expression than she could achieve through standard woodworking practices. "I don't like measuring," she revealed. With bandsawn boxes, she found that the exact measurements required were only for the basic length, depth, and width. Once on the bandsaw a box "takes on a life of its own." She created her first box in 1993. It sits atop a bookshelf in the Ventura home, and after glancing at it during our conversation, Lois commented that it seemed crude to her in terms of technique, with rather tight spots in the design that were very difficult to sand and chisel. Still, the box became a great learning tool in the end, and all the problems she ran into trying to construct it helped her refine her design strategies, evidenced in the following pieces, a sampler of Lois's favorites. |
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When Women in
Woodworking's graphic designer, Kris, brought a copy of Lois Keneer
Ventura's Building Beautiful Boxes with Your Bandsaw to the
development table, I was instantly intrigued. To grasp the idea of
devoting all your woodworking hours to one type of project, while still being able
to make each piece an individual work of art, I simply
had to ask, "Why bandsawn boxes?"
