This document introduces three woodworkers who use traditional techniques to create beautiful wooden pieces:
1. Tom Raffield creates wooden furniture and lighting in Cornwall using steam-bending techniques. He is known for his rosette-shaped 'No 1' pendant light made from coiled steam-bent wood.
2. Sebastian Cox designs furniture for brands like Liberty and Heal's using traditional splitting and cleaving techniques. He launched two collections last year made from coppiced chestnut and ash.
3. Barnaby Carder, who works in a shop window in London, hand-carves wooden spoons and spatulas using only a saw, axe, and two knives. He has d
This document introduces three woodworkers who use traditional techniques to create beautiful wooden pieces:
1. Tom Raffield creates wooden furniture and lighting in Cornwall using steam-bending techniques. He is known for his rosette-shaped 'No 1' pendant light made from coiled steam-bent wood.
2. Sebastian Cox designs furniture for brands like Liberty and Heal's using traditional splitting and cleaving techniques. He launched two collections last year made from coppiced chestnut and ash.
3. Barnaby Carder, who works in a shop window in London, hand-carves wooden spoons and spatulas using only a saw, axe, and two knives. He has d
This document introduces three woodworkers who use traditional techniques to create beautiful wooden pieces:
1. Tom Raffield creates wooden furniture and lighting in Cornwall using steam-bending techniques. He is known for his rosette-shaped 'No 1' pendant light made from coiled steam-bent wood.
2. Sebastian Cox designs furniture for brands like Liberty and Heal's using traditional splitting and cleaving techniques. He launched two collections last year made from coppiced chestnut and ash.
3. Barnaby Carder, who works in a shop window in London, hand-carves wooden spoons and spatulas using only a saw, axe, and two knives. He has d
This document introduces three woodworkers who use traditional techniques to create beautiful wooden pieces:
1. Tom Raffield creates wooden furniture and lighting in Cornwall using steam-bending techniques. He is known for his rosette-shaped 'No 1' pendant light made from coiled steam-bent wood.
2. Sebastian Cox designs furniture for brands like Liberty and Heal's using traditional splitting and cleaving techniques. He launched two collections last year made from coppiced chestnut and ash.
3. Barnaby Carder, who works in a shop window in London, hand-carves wooden spoons and spatulas using only a saw, axe, and two knives. He has d
Introducing a new generation of woodworkers: we meet three
craftspeople who are using traditional techniques to create beautiful pieces, from contemporary lighting to the humble wooden spoon Words EMMA LOVE
TOM RAFFIELD A Cornwall-based creative who makes lampshades in his woodland studio as for his Buttery pendant. Raffield is currently in the process of creating a spiralling bench for the Royal Bank of Canada garden at this years Chelsea Flower Show. In the future, hed like to expand the furniture side of his business. All of his work is inspired by organic forms. Looking at those beautiful shapes and knowing that you can develop them into a functional light is exciting, he says. From 95 for a small Helix light (@TomRaffield; tomraffield.com). Find out more about Raffields work at elledecoration.co.uk/news/steambending PICTURES: ANYAV RICE (TOM RAFFIELD), JON CARDWELL (SEBASTIAN COX)
People come to my workshop expecting to
see lots of equipment but there are just pipes and wallpaper steamers, says Tom Raffield, who set up his own business in 2008, using steam-bending techniques to create wooden furniture and lighting. Steam-bending is a low-tech process but theres a great deal of skill involved in getting it right, he says. Raffield works in a series of cabins on seven acres of woodland, living on site and sourcing most of his wood from there, too. He is known for his rosette-shaped No 1 pendant light, which is made from 80 metres of coiled steam-bent wood, as well
50 ELLEDECORATION.CO.UK MAY 2015
Style | C R A F T
SEBASTIAN COX A young designer who creates furniture for big-name brands Im inspired by the way wood works; the traditional processes that I use, such as cleaving a controlled method of splitting wood inform my designs, explains award-winning furniture maker Sebastian Cox, who set up his company while studying for a Masters in design at the University of Lincoln. I exhibited at the Tent London design fair. Then Caravane, a shop in Paris, ordered some of my hat stands and lighting. Suddenly I was in business and I had to borrow workshop space and equipment to deliver the order, he says. That was in 2000. Since then, Cox has designed furniture for
Liberty and Heals. Last year, he launched
two collections: a series of products made from coppiced chestnut and ash for Benchmark, and the Underwood range, which included a bench, a ladder, a candelabra and coat pegs in coppiced hazel and ash. Cox makes his pieces using a mix of specialist hand tools and machinery, and gives them a light oil nish. From 75 for a Swill shelf (@sebcoxfurniture; sebastiancox.co.uk). Find out more about coppicing a sustainable form of woodland management at elledecoration.co.uk/news/coppicing
MAY 2015 ELLEDECORATION.CO.UK 51
Style | C R A F T
FIVE MORE WOODWORKERS WE LOVE A N T H O N Y B R YA N T
Cornwall-based Anthony Bryant is one
of the UKs most accomplished woodturners. His simple, sculptural vessels, which are often made from ultra-thin pieces of ash, beech and holly, highlight the natural burrs, knots and bark of the wood. He turns the pieces on a lathe when the wood is still wet and green, incorporating the dramatic warping that occurs during drying into his designs. From 500 for a 15-centimetre holly vessel (anthonybryant.co.uk).
BARNABY CARDER The craftsman whos devoted to carving wooden spoons and spatulas A saw, an axe and two knives: these are the only tools that Barnaby Carder (aka Barn the Spoon) uses to create his spoons and spatulas, working in the window of his shop on Londons Hackney Road. Ive cut down trees and built a house out of wood, so I understand how the material behaves. I really care about my axe and knives, and that care is transferred to the spoons that Im making, he says. Over the years, Carder has dabbled in various types of woodwork he took a two-year furniture apprenticeship, during which he lived in the woods in Herefordshire. That apprenticeship changed everything.
It made me realise that spoons were the
most challenging thing to make: they require such control yet they are quick to create, so you get almost-instant gratication. For years, Carder travelled around the UK selling his spoons. The Hackney Road shop has given me great opportunities, but my end goal is to live in the woods and sell everything online, he says. From 30 for a cooking spoon (@barnthespoon; barnthespoon.com). Carder co-founded Spoonfest, a spooncarving festival. Find out more at elledecoration.co.uk/news/spoonfest
L I A M F LY N N
Not many people can claim to have
had their work pictured on a stamp, but one of wood-turner Liam Flynns pieces was chosen for a special edition issued to mark 2011, the Year of Craft in Ireland. Flynn lives and works in County Limerick and is known for using ebonised or bleached Irish oak. Theres a symmetry between the grain of the wood and the shape of his stark, tonal vessels. From 500 for a 15-centimetre holly vessel (liamynn.com; @LiamFlynn3).
JOHN JORDAN
Most of the deceptively simple vessels
made by Tennessee-based wood-turner John Jordan are crafted from wood that has either been discarded by construction sites or salvaged from felled trees. Jordan turns the fresh, green wood on a lathe and uses delicate handcarving techniques to create subtle surface textures. From 2,500 for a 15-centimetre pearwood vessel (johnjordanwoodturning.com).
PA S C A L O U D E T
Inspired by weathered wood, French
craftsman Pascal Oudet sandblasts very thin pieces to turn them almost transparent: his work has a delicacy thats reminiscent of lace. Oudet usually has a clear idea of what he wants to make, then sources the right wood to match. From 500 for a 16-centimetre oak piece (lavieenbois.com). A former apprentice of Barnaby Carder, Hereford-based Owen Thomas makes simple, functional bowls, spoons and cups from woods such as sycamore, birch and cherry. He uses traditional tools knives and axes in combination with a lathe. From 7 for a small serving bowl (owenthomaswoodcraft.com). E D
A Little Book of Vintage Designs and Instructions for Making Dainty Gifts from Wood. Including a Fitted Workbox, a Small Fretwork Hand Mirror and a Lady's Brush and Comb Box: Including a Fitted Workbox, a Small Fretwork Hand Mirror and a Lady's Brush and Comb Box.
The Wood Turner's Handybook: A Practical Manual for Workers at the Lathe: Embracing Information on the Tools, Appliances and Processes Employed in Wood Turning
A Little Book of Vintage Designs and Instructions for Making Dainty Gifts from Wood. Including a Fitted Workbox, a Small Fretwork Hand Mirror and a Lady's Brush and Comb Box: Including a Fitted Workbox, a Small Fretwork Hand Mirror and a Lady's Brush and Comb Box.
The Wood Turner's Handybook: A Practical Manual for Workers at the Lathe: Embracing Information on the Tools, Appliances and Processes Employed in Wood Turning
