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Small wall cupboards

These were fun to do. The one on the left is partly made from an old wine crate and the one on the right uses a really old door and Bakelite knob I've been meaning to do something with for years. The starfish and fish are both cut from a genuine piece of blue painted teak driftwood.

Exciting news for 2012!

In 2012 I hope to launch a completely different and new range of furniture. It will be like nothing I've done before and a million miles away from my current work. It absolutely won't replace that but will be in addition to the work I've always done. I'm really excited about this new venture and wish I could say more. At the moment its going through the early stages of prototyping and production costing but if all goes to plan I hope to launch the first piece some time next year. 

Watch this space!

Tall white cabinet

Here's my latest finished piece, commissioned by some lovely customers in West Putney, London. They were a delight to work with and I'm very much looking forward to seeing some photos of the piece in situ in their beautiful home. It's quite a big piece standing 2 metres tall and pretty hefty. All made from reclaimed timber, the sides, top and bottom are Victorian pine floorboards and the door knobs and catches likely date from a similar era. Sad to see this one go but its gone to a good home and the customers love it which is all that matters!

Coming soon!

I've always tried to use only reclaimed timber and found objects in my work (and will always continue to do so for the highly bespoke pieces or quirky originals) but I'm about to bring out a small range of wall cupboards that will use new wood, but always from sustainable sources. I thought it would be interesting to introduce a line of furniture that was still highly original and quirky but also great value for money.

If these prove popular I will gradually extend and develop this range.

Shell jewellery cabinet

Here's another piece I've been meaning to add for some time. This was a very special commission and originally designed to sit on another piece of my furniture. The customer's brief was to design and make a jewellery box. Thankfully I was given a free hand and never one to do things by halves I wanted to give it a hint of the theatrical (after all wearing jewellery is all about dressing up!) so with the grand doors and glowing lights I hope it has a tiny flavour of the Busby Berkley about it.

Porthole wardrobe

Here's a child's wardrobe I made about 6 years ago. Been meaning to get in touch with the customer for ages to ask if she could send some photos (many thanks Sarah!). I just finished making the piece before we moved house, so in all the hiatus I didn't get around to taking any pics. Lovely setting!

Tall green cupboard currently in Demelza's Gallery

Here's my tall green cupboard, currently residing in Demelza's Gallery, Church Street, Falmouth (www.demelzasgallery.com). That's one of my clocks too, on the right and one of Jane's paintings above that.

Jams and preserves

Another image I meant to add ages ago! My Jams & Preserves cupboard (modeled on the Egg Emporium cupboard) in its lovely new home. Thanks again Diane, looks great there!

Garden throne

At last! I've finally added a photo of the garden throne in situ. Its very comfortable and I'm pleased to say its been put to good use. I've spent the odd hour or two very happily reading or snoozing!

Seaside treasures (doors closed!)

Seaside treasures (doors open!)

This cupboard started life as a totally different piece and was destined to have a large carved oak door. When I'd finished it, it felt a bit heavy and cumbersome so I took the door off (saved in my workshop for another piece one day) and made it into an open display cabinet. Inspired by the Scilly Isles I made a little boat to go inside a small inner cupboard. You wouldn't believe how long the boat took. I carved and shape the hull by hand, steamed wooden strips for the gunwhales and even made miniature doweling pegs out of cocktail sticks etc., etc. Mad! I'm hoping I can put it up in my office, when I get round to decorating, where I can display my favourite seaside treasures.

Catch of the day

Ship ahoy!

Sail away!

These yachts (not strictly seaworthy!) I make with my wife, Jane. She makes the sails and I make the hull and mast. We make them in all sizes and I even made a big ocean steamer once. Someone bought that before I had a chance to photograph it unfortunately.

Green sea glass wall cupboard

Whenever I look at this picture it reminds me that I really want to make more furniture with glass in it. I have a whole range of ideas in my sketch book that I want to try, a lot of it with fused glass. (Soon I hope). Yet again it will have that sea sidey feel and will probably lend itself best to bathroom cabinets or display cupboards for those who want somewhere to rightly show off their beach 'treasure'!

Tall green 4-door cupboard

This is one of my favourite pieces and I got the idea for it whilst doodling in my sketch book at the Harrogate Gift Fair a few years back when things went rather quiet. Each door has a different infill material. Glass at the top, then aged copper, perforated zinc and wooden slats at the bottom, plus a secret compartment! It's quite tall and stands at around 7 feet high. The 'optional' fish, which hang either side, were to give it that little sea side flavour.

Mackerel on plaster

The inspiration for this piece came from seeing a painting at a friends house. Our friends Barbara and Barry, who own and run the Countryworks Gallery in Montgomery, Powys, have a 'painting' at home (I can't remember what the subject was) which was almost like a mini fresco that had been broken. It was mounted and put in a frame and I thought it was really interesting. This mackerel was an early experiment and before that I played around with different plaster and cement mixes and made notes as I went along. I just used watercolour paint and it went on really easily, I remember. My intention had then been to make a more authentic looking piece (as if it was an ancient section of a fresco) but made up of pieces as if it had got broken at some point and then roughly assembled with the pieces not quite touching. Unfortunately I got my notes muddled and I never did manage to replicate the plaster concrete mix. Whenever I applied the paint it just didn't go on very well. I may have a go again one day as I liked the effect. I'm sure with trial and error I'll get it right eventually!

Avalon cupboard

I call this the Avalon cupboard only because I had it in the Avalon Gallery in Marazion near Penzance for a while before bringing it home. Its now in our guest bathroom. There's that mackerel plaster painting hanging above it.

Egg Emporium

Here's the Christmas present I made Jane a some years back. It's all made from a door very kindly donated by my friend and aerobics teacher, Jan Phillips, when we lived in Shropshire. The great thing about the door was that it had many layers of gloss paint, built up over many years, so it was great sanding this back to give it its very aged and distressed look. It took a while to make and although I designed it on paper first it kind of evolved as it went along. The letters are hand carved, the recess into which they sit was routed out partly freehand and partly using a wooden template I had to make first. The door never seemed to quite fit and took hours of careful sanding and the painting took a while too, with several false starts as it really wasn't working. I hate to say it but I didn't finally finish it until Easter time (fitting I suppose!) and gave it to Jane at 11pm on Good Friday. Well, to be fair to me, I was only able to work on it some weekends. 

Egg Emporium door open

Notice the tiny hinged door in the sky. This was difficult to make but when you open it there's a little wooden 'cradle' attached to the inside of the door just big enough to hold one egg. The idea was that if you were cooking and just needed one more egg in a hurry and only had one hand free it would be simple to open and egg that 'emergency' egg!

Yellow crown egg cupboard

Here's another egg cupboard. I've got loads of ideas for others but I think I might save these for any egg cupboard commissions I might get.

Tall egg cupboard

Partly inspired by the Egg Emporium I made for Jane and partly as we keep chickens, I decided to make a few quirky eggs cupboards. There's also a special shelf at the top for one of Jane's papier mache hens!

Seaside throne

I always picture this chair placed on the outside deck of some lovely beach house. I'd sit on it and look out to sea on a lovely sunny afternoon. One day maybe!

2 pages from my sketch book

Here are 2 pages from one of my sketch books. I thought it might be interesting to show how a few of my pieces looked at the idea stage. There's the tall green cupboard, the blue wall porthole cupboard and a few clock designs.

Pink hanging fish cupboard

I made this cupboard at about the same time as the blue porthole cupboard. The door infill was made out of wood from an old packing case, the frame from old floorboards and the top from old pottery boards. When I eventually sold this piece, the lady who bought it wanted it blue so it was re painted. Understandably blues and turquoises are much more popular colours for my more sea-sidey furniture.

Porthole cupboard unpainted

Here's what the blue porthole cupboard looked like before it was painted, sometimes I think it'd be nice just to leave one 

like this.

Port hole cupboard

This was one of the first really sea-sidey pieces I made and developed my weather beaten paint effect technique. I sold this piece in the Avalon Gallery in Marazion, near Penzance in Cornwall. It went really quickly and I've always meant to make another.

Giant garden throne

This 'chair' was my second major project and took a number of years to complete, just working odd weekends. (Please look at a more recent post). It's made up of all sorts of timber sourced from waste piles in timber yards, junk shops, salvage yards and a few bits were found half buried in the ground in our garden in Shropshire (our house dated from the mid 16th century so the front legs might be that old).

The first chair I made

Here's a picture of the first piece of furniture I made, obviously all from reclaimed timber (taken in our garden when we lived in Shropshire. Really fantastic views, but I still prefer the sea!). It was a great learning process making this chair and I felt quite a simple sense of achievement when it was finished. Poor thing is stuck in a shed, for the moment, but I hope we can bring it back into the house at some point.