Thomas Schrunk
Artist in Lustrous Materials
Thomas
Schrunk has been called one of the top five veneer artist
in the United States, and he may be the only artist know to
use
luster as a primary design element.
His development as an artist comes through work in India
and the influence of the repetitive motifs of Islamic art,
as well as the lustrous gold leafing of Hindu statuary. His
signature style, the "flow pattern" parquetry of wood grain
gives directional movement over the surface, combined with
luster which occurs in unexpected bands, changing location
and shape as the viewer moves past. This luster changes
throughout the day with the changing angle of the sun, and
gives a quite different presentation at night, when lit
from within the building.
Bookmatched burl is another interest. Because of its
difficulty, it is not frequently seen, and is seldom done
with precision. He has developed a technique where accuracy
is no longer an issue, and bookmatching can be an active
design element, not simply a presentation technique. The
upper lid of the "Europa" series of Steinway & Sons Art
Case pianos uses a bookmatched fan radiating out from the
location of the seated pianist, and the underside of the
lid emulates the movement of the music up and out of the
instrument, again in radiating bookmatched burl.
His work has been described as "spectacular" by the
Minneapolis Star Tribune, and a June, 2006 article describes him as a "Renaissance Man".
Steinway described his first piano, "Reflections" as
"inspired design", and named to his second piano,
"Reflections in
Cardinalwood"
as an "artistic masterpiece" and ended their biography
of him with the word "genius". They describe him as a
"furniture veneer master" for his work on
"Europa". His work is found in
Design Book
Eight by
Taunton Press (Fine Woodworking), "Original Furniture
from te World's Finest Craftsmen".
Taking the principles of refractive and reflective luster
from wood cells and brushed metals, he developed a method
of creating lustrous surfacing on concrete for the first
time. Concrete Construction Magazine featured his work in
a 2007
article after
seeing photography of his work on the Sears Centre
Stadium in Hoffman Estates, (Chicago), Illinois.
Midwest Home
Magazine published
an article in September 2009 about him, and he was featured
in a five-page article in Woodwork
Magazine, Winter
2012-13 issue.
He spends part of each summer as an archaeological
photographer with his wife, Ivančica, on her Roman era site
on an island in Croatia.
