Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of wood marquetry through contemporary designs! This course combines theory, practical workshop sessions, and an artistic approach to help you discover the richness and uniqueness of each type of wood, and how their grain, texture, and color can transform a design into a living work of art.

Using their own design, each participant will be guided step by step through the process of creating a marquetry piece: choosing the wood, cutting techniques, and assembly. At the end of the course, everyone will leave with a unique, creative project made entirely by their own hands.

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Design a pattern suitable for the marquetry technique, taking into account the constraints of cutting and assembly
• Identify and choose wood species based on their characteristics (grain, texture, color, contrast)
• Cut veneers precisely (scalpel, coping saw)
• Assemble and prepare their marquetry pattern
• Glue and press marquetry onto a backing, then carry out basic finishing touches

This course invites participants to explore wood marquetry as a true creative medium, where design and material come together.

Each participant develops a personal motif and learns how to translate it into marquetry, taking into account the unique characteristics of a living material: wood.

The work begins with the observation and analysis of different types of wood. Trainees discover how to work with the qualities and constraints of wood, such as grain, veining, nuances, and density, and how to adapt their design to respect the nature of the material. The course takes place mainly in the workshop: techniques are demonstrated, explained, and then practiced under supervision, in order to gradually move from theory to practice. Depending on their project, participants experiment with cutting with a scalpel or a fretsaw to choose the technique best suited to their design.

At the end of the course, each trainee leaves with a marquetry panel, the result of a process that is both technical and creative, as well as the skills and knowledge necessary to continue this practice independently.

Schedule

Day 1

Morning

• Introduction to marquetry (history and contemporary approach)
• Overview of wood species
• Presentation of tools

Afternoon

• Simple technical exercises: straight cutting with a scalpel and cutting with a coping saw
• Adjusting two pieces
• Assembling pieces with gummed paper

Day 2

Morning

• Creating a simple personal design (geometric or organic) and distributing the wood according to the desired graphic effect

Afternoon

• Selecting wood species and beginning to cut according to the chosen technique

Day 3

Morning and afternoon

• Continue cutting
• Working on the joints
• Adjustments and gradual ribboning of the pattern

Day 4

Morning

• Finishing cutting
• Complete ribboning
• Preparation of the backing
• Presentation of glues and pressing methods

Afternoon

• Gluing the board
• Pressing and drying

Day 5

Morning and afternoon

• Removing the tape
• Light sanding
• Fine sanding
• Application of a simple finish
• Training review
• Tidying up the workshop

Hermine Torikian

From a young age, Hermine Torikian has been fascinated by theater and initially set her sights on a career as a set designer. Her sensitivity to space, staging, and materiality ultimately led her to study architecture. During her training, she focused particularly on the study of materials, exploring wood and earth as subjects for research and creation.

After graduating with a degree in architecture, she chose to further this approach through manual training and enrolled in a CAP (Certificate of Professional Competence) program in cabinetmaking. She then worked for several years in an artistic cabinetmaking workshop in Paris, where she learned the techniques, constraints, and requirements of the trade. At the same time, she taught herself marquetry: in the evenings, she created small objects from veneer scraps, gradually developing a personal style based on graphic patterns and color.

In 2023, she founded her own workshop in Ivry-sur-Seine, dedicated to the creation of furniture and decorative pieces in contemporary marquetry. Her career has been marked by a gradual shift in scale: from building to furniture, then to the minuscule and the extremely detailed. This transition from the monumental to the intimate, from architectural space to object, now forms the basis of her approach.

Hermine Torikian has developed a unique practice of artistic cabinetmaking, in which wood becomes a field of plastic experimentation as much as a sensitive language. Her work is distinguished by a deliberate play of contrasts: bold colors, curved lines, and graphic patterns compose a precise visual vocabulary.

In her creations, marquetry is never confined to a purely decorative role. She makes it the very heart of the project, the structuring principle of the piece of furniture. Total, visual, and omnipresent, it extends across the entire object, sometimes even into areas that are usually secondary or invisible.
Through this practice, she explores the boundaries between structure and ornament, rigor and sensitivity, constructing a body of work where meticulous craftsmanship dialogues with a spatial sensibility inherited from architecture.

www.herminetorikian.fr

• Classroom, multipurpose room, workshops with professional equipment
• Materials provided
• Individual and collaborative work
• Workshop work
• Active participation and experimentation by participants are encouraged

• Collective and personalized monitoring of work, regular updates
• Self-assessment of technical skills
• Group feedback
• Attendance sheet for each half-day
• Certificate of completion issued by Campus MaNa