The history of wood intarsia creations is far from clear. The best guess appears to take us back to the mid 1200's in Italy. Travelers returning home from trying to find a route to India would no doubt have brought back wood from trees they had never seen before. These "samples" were probably assembled into an intarsia wood mosaic of some form for display. This would no doubt be presented to the king, queen, or whoever had financed the trip.

We know that this wood intarsia art form all but disappeared for quite a length of time and was revived by Judy Gale Roberts. Many of the ideas about intarsia wood that we have today were first suggested by this lady. She has been responsible for a wealth of patterns and ideas.

True intarsia woodworking requires assorted woods of different colors, the use of these colors, grain structure and direction make beautiful decorative pictures from wood. No paint or stain should ever be used to change any intarsia wood color, natural wood from assorted wood species give the different colors.

Do you like working with your hands? Do you like wood, especially different kinds of wood? Are you interested in creating unusual intarsia wood art? If the answers are yes then this wood intarsia art form just may be for you. You can begin very easily if you have access to a scroll saw or a band saw with an 1/8" blade. There are free intarsia woodworking plans online to get you started and the local lumber dealer or cabinet workshop could be an excellent source of dry wood for your intarsia project.

Are you looking for a rewarding hobby? One that you can use to fill up those leisure time hours after you retire? One that you could develop into a home based business? Intarsia wood working is worth considering. It can be as simple or detailed as you desire, wood intarsia subjects can have 10-200+ pieces that are sanded and fitted together to form the final product.

Intarsia woodworking can become addicting, at least for some. The satisfaction of creating a one of a kind masterpiece from small pieces of wood is very satisfying. That satisfaction is multiplied when family and friends comment on your creation or someone wishes to purchase one of your art pieces.

Intarsia wood art pieces are always one of a kind, finding two pieces the same shape may be possible but the wood color, grain and direction will be different. The choices available for people to get special gifts for special people are what makes Intarsia wood art such an interesting hobby and the possibility of having a home business. When experience is gained, the creation of your own designs are constructed then the true creation process can be realized.