These Intricate Quilts Won't Keep You Warm This Winter For One Very Fascinating Reason
by N/A, 9 years ago |
3 min read
They're beautiful, but they won't keep you warm. Unless of course, you burned them - which would be like killing a unicorn.
There's a technique in the world of art called "Trompe l’oeil" that involves deceiving the viewer by making a work look photographically realistic, to the point of it looking authentically real to the naked eye.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/18661deb0bb530e64f552091772b8493.jpeg)
This, friends, is exactly what artist and woodworker Fraser Smith does with his wooden "quilts."
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/b04525c485f4d574a3f4d5084ddd4d9c.jpeg)
You could consider him the trompe l’oeil master of "quilt making."
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/3a4619b9f10690de4b4f60a1eb729f6e.jpeg)
With painstaking craftsmanship, Smith takes one of the most stubborn mediums, wood, and makes it look like cloth.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/37c637dec3ae5d9e6a0b5a159b4fa8c1.jpeg)
Of course, as you can imagine, his unique creations are not easily made.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/1c369ce413c14fbe82f2ac7b81274084.jpeg)
Each "quilt" takes anywhere from 6 months to a year to complete, depending on the complexity of their design.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/043e5b70fadd4048fe0c859f3d4f4509.jpeg)
And if you haven't already noticed, he doesn't tend to make many basic designs.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/e45794b753935767d174febe9a4a5c52.jpeg)
In an incredibly tedious process, that truly can't be explained enough to be fully appreciated, Smith goes from cutting, to shaping, to more cutting, to more shaping...
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/ac1fad6e35d93ea09f3674ceaddf8799.jpeg)
To etching, to sanding, to more etching...
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/5389fc83d6457f5faba16fc8e30a3367.jpeg)
And finally, to painting.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/967f842784ea13232a97a1d9d36439f3.jpeg)
Each ripple, each indentation, each crease and fold must be perfectly executed, with the utmost attention to detail, in order to make his "quilts" truly look like quilts.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/65016271d6f71ada59cff0fc6166e22a.jpeg)
Months later, Smith has a mesmerizing, fully finished product, that most might be tempted to steal, were they not 60+ pounds.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/f13b3fc20637462f38eb54199832572b.jpeg)
You could call him a master woodworker, but to be honest, "master of deception" might be a more fitting title.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sifts.spartzinc.com/images/ed6d52b1738e2934c5a040c0aa7a1882.jpeg)
✕
Do not show me this again