Subcategories

• Tim Atkinson

  Tim Atkinson contemporary furniture is based in Cheshire.

  “I generally use native woods: oak, elm, beech and yew. It is carefully selected for unique features and character, mostly the wood dictates what I make giving it a feeling of ‘treeness’.

  Special wood favourites are oak burr and elm burr, both having incredible figure, shatters and shakes which never fails to please the eye when linseed oil is applied. Every piece made is a journey and adventure, discovering new shapes, landscapes and crevices ever changing with thoughts, moods and light. I liken my pieces to a family - ‘children’ when looked after and cared for with a loving touch will give years of enjoyment and pleasure. 

  I make furniture, which is visually interesting as well as practical and hardwearing. It absorbs the stresses and strains of life but is ultimately for people to adopt, touch and care for.” 

• The Bespoke Home

  Jacqueline Duffield, makes beautiful and functional furniture from her workshop in Penrith, Cumbria.  She sources her wood locally where possible but also loves the uniqueness of exotics.  She likes to combine a variety of woods together, selected for its natural grain and colour to create striking results.  Her new range - the 'Fell' range is inspired by the Lake District and Pennine mountains that surround her workshop.

• Frazer Burley

• Kathryn O'Kell

  Kathryn's beautiful hand crafted panels are carved in English lime wood, they are painted, usually with watered down acrylics, and layered and sanded until the desired effect is achieved. Paint is used to emphasize the carved mark and any movement it suggests. Finally, a wax polish is applied to give a soft sheen to the surface of the wood, which also intensifies the depth of colours and brings out the painted highlights. 

• Maria Santos Alcantara

  “Using repousee and chase techniques, I form pewter sheet into a variety of objects such as photo frames, mirrors and small boxes. I use a combination of different materials such as enamels, glass and semi precious stones on wood, aluminium or silver as a base structure. No two pieces are exactly alike as no casting or pressing is involved. Each piece has been worked individually from my own designs.”

  The boxes are handcrafted from the root of the Thuya tree before being expertly French polish finished to enhance the full character of this exquisite burr.

• Jay Rubinstein

• Joey Richardson

  Joey Richardson, an internationally acclaimed turner and sculptor, is renowned for her delicate and richly hued wood forms. She personally sculpts each individual piece on a lathe, with the cutting, shaping and sanding all controlled with the eye. Her skill allows her to pare the wood until it is paper thin, allowing light through the normally opaque texture.

  She has won awards from the Worshipful Company of Turners and Scholarships from The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) and the Carpenters Company. In 2012 Joey was made a Liveryman of the Turners Company and in 2015 she was awarded the prestigious QEST Award of Excellence.

  Her sculptures are held in many collections and can be seen in numerous museums and exhibitions all around the world.  Inspiring others, Joey’s devotion and fluency in passing on her enthusiasm and knowledge is infectious and she regularly teaches and demonstrates all her techniques globally.

  Joey is one of the leaders of the artistic wood movement that is developing in the UK.

• John Shorrock

  John Shorrock is the woodturner who works out of a large workshop and wood store on the family farm. John uses hardwoods grown in the North West of England. Most of the wood is sourced from local tree surgeons who let him know when they have a tree which they think is suitable for John's style of wood turning. 

  'I visualize the shape I want before starting a piece but take careful note of the features as the piece develops working the final shape to reveal the grain and natural edges to best advantage. All my pieces are finished with melamine lacquer and then wax polished to bring out the natural markings of the wood.

  If possible I buy full trees and always like to know where they had grown. Most of my work at present is made out of Elm burr, Yew and Sycamore.

  All off-cuts of wood are burned in my workshop stove to keep warm in winter, composted shavings are used in our vegetable garden. I get my inspiration from the trees whose wood I use in my work, I try to retain the spirit and character of the tree in every piece I create. A large part of keeping the character of the tree is working with the faults and defects instead of cutting them out. In my work you will see the inclusion of bark, holes and areas of rot all of which add character if sympathetically used.

• Jonathan Stamper

  'Living and working in the beautiful Cumbrian countryside

  provides me with a constant source of natural shapes and forms, shells,

  fungi, plants and trees all give me ideas for sculpture.

  My preferred medium is wood as it has such a variety of textures, colours

  and grain; it also has a warmth that many other mediums don’t pocess.

  When I have found an idea, I work directly on to the wood without

  making any preliminary sketches or Marquettes. The wood will dictate

  the final piece as any knots; cracks and grain are revealed as the piece

  progresses.

  I studied A level art and design and was influenced by the work of

  Barbara Hepworth and Constantine Brancusi and their style of work

  using natural forms has influenced me in my designs.

  I have been fortunate to be able to combine my work as a Dairy Farmer

  with my love of sculpture and have many sculptures in private collections

  as far afield as Canada, New Zealand, Japan and the USA.'