Cristina Alvarez Magliano was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1943. She became a school teacher in 1960 and got her first diploma in arts in 1958. However, she kept her artistic activities as a hobby along her university studies at the University of Buenos Aires Law School and her long and successful professional career in the field of labor and federal law of her country. In 2003 she retired from her post as a federal circuit court judge to dedicate her efforts to the activity she loves most, which is artistic creations in wood.  She became a member of American Marquetarian,Inc. -a non profit organization devoted to the promotion of this form of art- and collaborates with the quarterly AMI newsletter as a contributing editor and translator into Spanish and French. She has written several articles about her own technique for inserting stones and metals into Marquetry designs and  she discusses the relationship between art and Marquetry through her column "The Art Corner". Her work was also published in the magazine "Couleur Bois" #9 and in "Infobae"argentinean newspaper. She has exhibited her work in the "Annual AMI Exhibition" in 2001 (New York); in "El arte en la Justicia" in 2001; 2002 and 2003 (Buenos Aires, Argentina); "Azahara Gallery" 2003(Moreno, Argentina); and held a solo show at "Aldo de Sousa Art Gallery" in 2002 in Buenos Aires.  Her pictures are in exhibition on several Internet sites.

How does she work? She must perform several phases to accomplish her marvelous objects of art. It all begins on the drawing table, where several sheets of white and transparent paper are displayed. At this time she uses soft black pencils to make her complex designs; later she uses colors to have full images of contrasting shapes and tones. Once she is convinced she has drawn what she had in mind, the transfer process begins. The full design is traced in fine lines on several pieces of transparent paper -usually in small parts or subassemblies that will be inserted into the final picture- and passed on veneer. Cristina uses the simultaneous bevel double cutting method; in this way there are not gaps between the different pieces that conform the picture. This a very meticulous work that requires the artist to pay full attention to details and tidiness. After the cutting process is finished the piece must be mounted on board, sanded and polished. As anyone can see, every piece takes a lot of time and effort to be near of perfection. The advantage of making art with this medium resides in the wide varieties of uses that can be given to a piece, from a two dimensional decorative picture to a solid table top, box or any object be it decorative or useful one. Of course, you can't do that with an oil, acrylic, or watercolor  painting!!  See her workshop:

She says:  "Since I was a little girl I had a strong and deep necessity  to put everything I knew and felt into images and objects. My hands made it very easy for me: it was as if an electric fluid was guiding my fingers and telling them what to do. I had-and still have- a strong compromise with beauty and harmony, with creativity and seriousness of mind. I strongly believe that art can change the way we see ourselves, making us more tolerant to other's points of view, ideas and feelings. It is, at least, my commitment. I think we must try to surround our everyday life with art. Not only in pictures, but in every simple object we use from our kitchen to our living room. That is one of the reasons for having chosen wood as a medium to express myself. It is a solid, perdurable and yet flexible and beautiful material that will be with us for as long as we want. Please, feel free to contact me to discuss ideas about art as well as about the subject of my pictures!"