About Me
I am a woodland craftsperson undertaking, and teaching a variety of woodland projects.
I teach spoon/bowl carving, barkcraft and general greenwoodworking courses to adults and children.
I also run demonstrations and workshops at events and festivals all over the country.
During winter I undertake coppice, hedgelaying and conservation work.
I can be booked for demonstrations, craft workshops and education sessions.
Working with the land
I feel a deep connection to the land and my work because I make my crafts from the ground up, either growing, coppicing or foraging my own materials, scraping, splitting and processing them by hand with axes and knives and then shaping and decorating them into lovingly crafted functional items.
There is a story to tell of a previous life in all the materials that go into the crafts that I make. I can tell you if the sap was rising, the leaves dropping, the sun shining or rain pattering down through the trees to the woodland floor when the fibres, bark or wood was harvested.
The land is important and we need to work with it, not against it
Working with the seasons
I work with the seasons, undertaking work such as coppicing, hedge laying and charcoal making in the winter months and teaching, making and demonstrating during the summer.
Nothing is wasted, the wood from the charcoal comes from the coppiced willow sticks peeled for the bark in spring, wood shavings start the fire to make the charcoal and birch bark gets made into tar or for fire lighting. I also use bark and foraged fibres for natural dying, herbalism and weaving, everything is intertwined.
Sustainable, low carbon footprint.
I work from my workshop in the woods and anywhere else where I can carry a log and my tools!
The materials are harvested and created where they grew, needing only the power from my own body to create them.
I have a passion for passing on these skills and run regular craft courses all around the country, i also undertake demonstrations and run workshops at events and festivals.
The land is important and we need to work with it, not against it.
Hand and Axe
All my work is made by hand using traditional techniques handed down for generations, mixed up with a twist of design and colour from my background as an artist.
My inspiration is all around me, from a crashing wave to an unfurling fern,
Coppicing
Coppicing is the act of taking a tree back down to the ground with the aim of letting it grow back into multiple stems, this lets a stream of new light hit the woodland floor allowing dormant seeds to revive and grow and reintroduce a whole host of flora and fauna to re-emerge.
Can I help you?
Interested in commissioning a product, booking me to run a course, attend your event or undertake woodland management?