Joe Smith of Centralia, Ill.-based Smith Artisan Floors was asked to draw inspiration from Southwestern and Native American art for this wood floor medallion in a circa-1920s home in Edwardsville, Ill. The rest of the design was left up to him.
He knew immediately that he wanted to use multiple species of wood to create colors that would complement each other. “That’s one of the things that I really try to do, find colors created in nature,” Smith says. And with a background that includes working with tile, Smith also knew he wanted to use the opportunity to create a mixed-media floor. Thus was born his wenge, purpleheart and curly maple medallion with smatterings of turquoise gemstones throughout.
In the entryway of the 800-square-foot project, Smith also added a red oak sunburst medallion encompassed by a maple and purpleheart feature strip to match the Southwestern-style medallion.
For the medallion, Smith cut the intricate pieces for the medallion using a mixture of band saws, scroll saws and a table saw with a sled. He used a thickness planer to get them to approximately ⅜ inch. The pieces were then glued to a plywood backer and sanded, after which the turquoise gemstones were added. “I used to do tile as well, so I have a lot of comfort cutting and shaping stone,” Smith says.
The medallion was then brought to the job site, where it was fitted into the red oak floor and buffed. The red oak was stained cocoa, the medallion and entryway border were given a neutral stain and then three finish coats.
All told, Smith estimates the project was between 35–50 hours of work. It was his first mixed-media project, and he hopes to dedicate more hours to crafting creative wood floor medallion gems—be they figurative or literal gems—in the near future.
Suppliers:
Adhesive: Wakol MS262 | Finish: Loba Easy Prime, Hybrid | Stain: Bona, DuraSeal
