A fusion of green wood and fine furniture.

When I started my furniture making career as a student at Rycotewood College, I had the sole purpose of wanting to learn to make furniture to a high standard. The training was rigorous, and challenging at times, but slowly I learnt to mark out precisely, and cut accurately to a line. To hone my tools to a razor edge, and to work methodically and carefully to a successful conclusion. I was always however, glad to see the finished pieces leave the workshop. I never wanted to take them home. There was something clinical about the crisp lines, the meticulous joinery and square edges. There was something missing in the feelings I wanted to portray in my work.

A Cuzco inspired small cabinet. The walls at Cuzco, built by the Incas over 500 years ago intersect at subtle angles, and notch in to each other perfectly. It is still not known how they built them.

This changed for me when i went on a 6 day chair making course in the woods with green woodworking legend Mike Abbott. It was there I learnt about not imposing your will on the wood, but in working in harmony with it. Splitting wood along the grain, following the natural flow of the grain, rather than machining, or imposing ideas on it. Of course there are times when flat surfaces are a necessity. But I find more interest in a free flowing edge, which follows the line of the tree, than in a straight and squared edge.

Detail of the chair made with Mike Abbott at Clisset Wood

My work now attempts to bridge the void between the twin worlds of “fine” furniture, and traditional “green” woodworking. For me wood should feel like wood. It should undulate, and have texture. Finding ways to combine these two worlds in a harmonious and meaningful way keeps me happy! You can see more of the things I make here.

Detail of library steps which were privately commissioned recently, in sweet chestnut, and stainless steel.