BILL FERSTER: A Master of Marquetry

BILL FERSTER: A Master of Marquetry

By John E. Ross

From his spacious studio in the converted attic of his 1820s stone house on Welbourne Road, Bill Ferster deploys digital graphics and laser cutters to produce inlaid wood marquetry, a decorative art dating to the days of Pompeii in the first century.

A work of marquetry begins in Bill’s Upperville studio with computers and a small laser cutter.

Tools of the artists trade.

Photos by John L. Ross

Though known throughout horse country for fanciful and factual inlaid art a table he donated to the Middleburg Community Center sold at its art auction last year – Bill is an entrepreneur to the core of his soul.

He pioneered nonlinear editing animation processes used by Ken Burns and others to produce motion from still photographs. He founded Editing Machines Corp. in 1988 and, five years later, won an EMMY for Outstanding Technical Achievement.

He became infatuated with animation as a student in the Corcoran School of Art. Upon graduation from George Washington University in 1978, he landed a job as a graphics artist for Good Morning America. He later joined M. G. Lord and Woody Landay in a studio producing animated political cartoons.

Intrigued by the integration of engineering and art, Bill bought a Radio Shack computer and soon learned, “I was a better technology person than an artist.” Still, his artistic bent remains unchecked.

Colors, grain, and texture of wood inspire him. Using computer software, he powers a laser to cut veneer no thicker than 1/42nd of an inch with utter precision into tiny pieces. With a press, he glues them to backing, creating images which, after final sanding and sealing, can then be framed.

His subjects range widely from abstractions, through floral and equine designs, and landscapes to cartoons like Mickey Mouse as Steamboat Willy. Recently he’ s been reproducing posters from a book by African-American activist W. E. B. Dubois.

Bill is equally immersed in the application of graphics and artificial intelligence to teaching. In 2006, he earned a doctorate in education from the University of Virginia. As a UVA professor from 2006 to 2020, he taught undergraduates how to use interactive visualization to explore American history and related topics. Now teaching at Harvard, he’s developing computer-based systems to help teachers learn how to better relate to students.

Most prospective teachers are only able to spend a semester or so as student teachers in front of live students in a classroom before they are certified to teach. Further, the Covid pandemic dramatically accelerated teaching by computer.

Bill and Harvard professor Rhonda Bondie are developing an interactive, AI-based simulation of a high school class. Animations of students, each with their own names, sit in a row across the computer screen. Speaking into the computer’s microphone, the student teacher calls on a student pictured on the screen and asks them a question such as “what is 2 plus 2?”

The student might logically respond “22.” The teacher then helps the student learn the answer “4.” How the teacher guides the student to the correct answer is recorded and measured by AI. Afterward, the prospective teacher and their professor review what happened and learn how to do better. Eventually this program will be available to colleges offering teacher education across the country.

A drive down Welbourne Road gives no inkling of the creative vitality boiling behind the hedges and stone walls of Bill Ferster’s home. Yet, one look at one of his abstract marquetry designs gives you a clue.