Here is a wonderful film. I am so excited by the 21st century we can use the most amazing technology to find and link up with folks around the world with an interest in simple technologies. Great film making and ace music too. Yoav bought a porringer off me a month ago, if I am thrilled that it has gone…
Each year around this time we get a load of stuff shared on facebook suggesting we buy local, craftsman made etc. All worthy enough but this year I really liked this one. The sad thing is that it is being widely shared without any credit to either the person that penned the words or whoever did the layout. In fact…
I Love Edale at this time of year. The colours are wonderful, the sun low in the sky makes everything look wonderful and sunrise is late enough for me to see it. Better still when you go for a walk or morning run up the hill there are hardly any tourists about, this morning I had all this…
After attending the international folk crafts expo in China delegates were treated to a trip out to sample some of the local culture. I was a bit surprised to find we needed a doctor and a policeman on our bus. Thankfully the doctor was not needed but the policeman had a lot of work. Whenever we hit a traffic jam…
My stay in China was very brief just 6 days but 6am every morning I was up (jet lag) and walking the streets. This was my favourite place for breakfast, the street food is amazing and cheap, clearly many people eat on the street rather than at home. The bamboo steamers are full of steamed bread/dumpling type things, each layer has…
I was delighted to be asked to represent the UK at the International FolkCrafts expo in Gizhou province China. This was a celebration of global folk culture on a scale that is simply not imaginable in Europe. It was organised by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and The International Organisation of Folk Art IOV a very inspirational organisation. Such a contrast…
This is an essay I wrote over ten years ago for Turning Points the journal of the wood turning center (now renamed center for wood art) in the USA vol 16 2003. I think some may find it an interesting read and I am prompted to share it by my friend Jarrod writing about art vs craft on his blog Anyway…
Wednesday 9pm sees the start of the new series of Tudor Monastery Farm and the first craft they cover with will be bowl turning. They filmed at my workshop in the spring when Ruth Goodman and the team visited my workshop and I turned some Tudor style dishes for them. Most of the series is filmed at the Weald and…
I am sure that folk that like my work would love to own an original Tudor pewter porringer. Not the sort of thing that you get the opportunity of very often but on November 24th a fantastic collection goes under the hammer at Wilkinson’s of Doncaster. Here are a few pictures, first the porringers, this is a form that you…
I made this bowl way back in 1996 yet I can still remember exactly where the alder tree came from, what it felt like to work, where and how much I sold it for and I can also remember who bought the other bowl that was made from the other half of the log it came from. But I can’t…
