Stewart Linford is a bit of a legend in furniture making circles. He started making Windsor chairs in High Wycombe home of the English furniture trade 35 years ago when there were 40 other businesses employing over a thousand makers. Whilst that trade has declined drastically in the face of cheap imports Stewart has built a world wide reputation and…
Gail McGarva will be speaking at the Heritage Crafts Association spring conference at the V&A in March and the next few blog posts will be profiling some of the excellent speakers you’ll get a chance to hear if you are coming and to whet the appetite of those who are yet to book. I blogged about Gail’s work with the…
I am sure many folk will enjoy this 1945 book called Woodsmanship by Bernard S. Mason It is 65 years out of date which puts it back in the time when folk used axes and cross cut saws. It is written from an American perspective and has some flaws but I still like it. Lovely line drawings showing good practice…
This for me is a very sad video, my friend Trevor Austen rakemaker filmed after the onset of motor nurone disease. Sad too because this viable business died and the workshop was broken up when he could no longer work. Trevor finally passed away on Christmas day. Here are a few more articles about Trevor’s work. Telegraph 2001 Museum of…
A nice start to the year, an article from the NFU countryside magazine click on the image for an image that is hopefully big enough to read.
2011 may look like being a year of austerity but for the traditional crafts it may prove to be the most exciting year for a long time. I believe this year will see an explosion of traditional crafts in the media and by the end of 2011 the profile and status of traditional craftspeople will be raised and their skills…
Regular readers might remember my visit to Galicia in Northern Spain last October to visit hand weaver Anna Champeney and basket maker Lluis Grau blogs here, here and here I was there to help with an internet marketing for craftspeople course and since Anna has set up a very nice blog which I would recommend to anyone with a broad…
Last few photos that didn’t fit in earlier posts from our woodworking tour of Japan. Big cypress at a shrine. This is the shrine and after making a donation the appropriate bows, handclaps and ringing the bell you get a go on the taiko drum. I have wanted to have a go on these for years since first seeing performances…
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Meet Takahiro Yoshino a remarkable chairmaker we met in Japan. What made him remarkable was that he is the first chirmaker I have met (and I know a lot) who makes truly bespoke chairs that are tailored (I can’t think of a better word) to fit the user. Now some may argue with this point. I know a lot of…
