Almost Show Time!

If you’re anywhere near Bristol or the south west of England within the next couple of months, it would be worth keeping an eye out for three furniture exhibitions. Two of these shows follow on from similar events that took place a year earlier. Sadly, due to financial reasons, I’m unable to take part this [...]

Spot the Difference

I don’t think I ever got around to showing you any finished photographs of my curved oak cabinet before it went in to the Furnish exhibition, the other week. As a measure of how far my skills and ambitions have progressed in the last two-years, I’ve set it up alongside the ‘apprentice piece‘ sycamore cabinet [...]

This Was ‘Furnish’

At 7pm last night, the curtains closed as the 2010 Furnish exhibition in Bristol came to an end. It’s hard to gauge at this point just how “successful” this has been for everyone involved (speaking in the sense of running a business, receiving fresh inquiries and taking commissions…). Everyone seems to have enjoyed it although, [...]

FURNISH, Bristol – 8th-13th July 2010

This evening (or, late-afternoon, if you prefer…), the FURNISH Exhibition kicks off in Bristol. A few of us began setting up yesterday, without everyone else arriving around midday today. I had to unload my pieces in two trips, partly because my chair and the curved cabinet were both awaiting a final coat of polish! So, [...]

Time to Turn?

My first exhibition (Furnish, at Paintworks) opens exactly one week from now and, right now, when I’m not doing any payed work, I’m spending all my free time trying to get my other pieces polished and ready (hence the lack of action on this blog, recently). About two-months ago, I “completed” a contrasting curved-fronted cabinet [...]

Holy Cramp, Batman!

Just in time for the half-term break, I got my arm chair all glued up at college. It’s quite a relief to finally reach this stage of this build in particular! Even though, I still have a bit of sanding and tidying up to do. To be honest, I’m not sure I would have had [...]

Carving for Comfort

This week at college, I’ve managed to get the English walnut seat carved out to a comfortable formation for my own bottom. While I spent the best part of both days (thirteen hours) on this, including endless amounts of sanding and applying a coat of oil, I have to say, carving a chair seat isn’t [...]

Tea Tray

Another day and another piece is ready for the Furnish exhibition in July! 8) It’s a tea or ‘serving’ tray made from a contrasting combination of brown oak and regular English oak. Sides are angled or ‘canted’ at 20° and, while it may look deceptively tricky to do; trust me – with a sharp blade [...]