Dream big
Saturday 23rd September 2023
Hello friends,
Dream big.
Woodwork was always a calling for me. Something I craved with my entire being - body, mind and soul.
But I didn’t just fancy the typical joinery or kitchen cabinetry route.
Don’t get me wrong - I do both of these types of work for money - good, high-quality, bread-and-butter work that pays the bills.
But my heart is for fine craftsmanship.
For me, it all started for me with a book by James Krenov - A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook. Most woodwork books focus on the technical aspects. He wrote about it in poetry.
He was a cabinetmaker by hand, head and heart. In love with wood and with a deep appreciation for fine hand-tool work. He spoke about what it was to push yourself beyond the ordinary and to make each piece, with care and focus, as best as you can.
Like an idiot I believed him. I fell head-over-heels for the dream. It ruined me for anything else.
Then I discovered David Savage.
A fiery old artist and a brilliant cabinetmaker. He mixed mind-boggling, other-worldly designs with the same spirit of craftsmanship I’d encountered in Krenov. His college, Rowden Atelier, routinely produced designer-makers who were starting to walk in the footsteps of David’s work. I had to go.
After the year long designer-maker course, I couldn’t leave. I stayed on first as a ‘bench renter’ to make for a couple of local exhibitions, and then to make a couple of pieces for David. These featured in his book - The Intelligent Hand. My first couple of “crazy” pieces.
Along with a couple of return visits to teach hand-tool courses, I spent nearly 3 years at Rowden in total. It was like a practical Phd in fine furniture making - just without all of the boring academic writing. The amount I learnt there was incredible. If I was still there, I’d still be learning.
I am now based at Sylva in Oxfordshire, making furniture for a living.
Looking back, I could never have planned the journey. It has taken me eight years to get this far, and it has not been easy. In many ways I have still only taken my first step into this vast land.
But I write this to you as an encouragement.
If you want to take a bold step to pursue and artistic career, make things by hand, or do anything else that the world considers ‘crazy’ then just start walking towards it.
Take that risk.
Bet on yourself.
Go all in.
I won’t promise you’ll make it.
But I can promise that if you don’t take that step, then you will never make it.
Thank you for continuing to join me on this crazy journey of making things by hand.
~sh