London

Wizardry in Wood 2025

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There’s still time to get tickets for this year’s Wizardry in Wood, The Worshipful Company of Turners quadrennial celebration of woodturning and wood art!

When: Tuesday 28th October to Friday 31st October

Where: Plaisterers’ Hall, One London Wall, London, EC2Y 5JU

Timings:
Tuesday 10 am – 4 pm
Wednesday 10 am – 7 pm
Thursday 10 am – 4 pm
Friday 10 am – 3 pm (competitions prize giving at 3 pm)

Tickets: Book now through Eventbrite or also available to purchase on the door.

I have again been invited to take part in the The Master’s Exhibition. The theme ‘responding to the environment’ is based upon the Company’s commitment to sustainability and the environment.

So for this exhibition I have created A Collection of Mills. Creating unique, functional pieces has always been a priority for me—it’s my way of responding to the environmental challenges posed by our disposable culture. I strive to enrich daily life with meaningful objects, each mill a treasured item, often repaired and cherished over many years.

The unique qualities of each wood piece foster a deep connection to the natural world. This collection features a variety of British woods: oak from an old Lloyds Bank, mahogany from Horeb Hall, ash from a nearby forest, and yew from a friend’s garden. I intentionally emphasize any imperfections, inspired by the philosophy of Kintsugi, which honors their journey and history. Each item is further enhanced with plant-based oils and natural pigments, reflecting a commitment to sustainability and craftsmanship.

I will also be entering a piece into the Yeoman’s competition, new to this years WiW. This competition honours the courage, determination and resilience of Liveryman Julian Scott and the theme matches the Lord Mayor’s priorities which for 2025 are: ‘ambition, renewal and growth’.

I will be going down to London to visit the show myself this year so hopefully will see some of you there!

The Coronation Muscinae Capsule

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This piece was recently made for the latest Worshipful Company of Turners’ biennial turning exhibition which took place on the 18th – 19th October 2023 at Pewterers’ Hall, London.

New for this year was a Master’s Exhibition, selected by invitation only. This exhibition aspired to showcase the finest woodturning in the UK, and had leading artists providing for the first time, an exciting and diverse display of turned artwork, using sustainable or reclaimed British timber.

The theme for this year was Coronation, which we were able to interpret in any manner we wished, whilst being respectful of the Worshipful Company of Turners’ core values and long-established Royal Charter.

The Coronation Muscinae Capsule

My piece was inspired by King Charles’ Coronation and his life long interests in environmental issues and the natural world, which I am also incredibly passionate about. The box was very challenging, particularly as it was the first time I had soldered silver on this scale, but I was really happy with the finished piece despite the struggle!

The form originates from Muscinae – the original scientific name for mosses – the oldest land plants on earth at 450 million years. It echoes the mosses seed capsule, and the piece contains seeds from the Scottish thistle, Welsh daffodil, Northern Ireland’s shamrock and English rose, unifying the flora of the four nations of the Untied Kingdom.

The colouring of the body of the piece represents King Charles’ use of his grandfather King George VI Coronation robes with ermine trim in his bid to be more sustainable. It is painted with milk paint, an eco-friendly finish that has been used for thousands of years.

The capsule’s lid symbolises the St. Edward’s crown with it’s precious metals and purple velvet. The original crown was thought to be silver and date back to the eleventh century saint Edward the Confessor (as seen on the Bayeux Tapestry), before it was melted in during the English Civil War in 1649 and remade in gold by the Royal Goldsmith, Robert Vyner in 1661.

Eco-friendly materials were used throughout, including the peristome made from recycled silver and a gold ball created from my grandmother’s wedding ring, and responsibly sourced English sycamore. The silver was hallmarked at the Goldsmith’s Company Assay Office with the extra Coronation Commemorative mark. The sycamore cap was coloured with sustainably produced Lucea organic plant based watercolour paint, ground from logwood giving it a beautiful subtle purple shade, embellished with water-based resin dots.

English sycamore, recycled sterling silver, recycled 18ct gold, stainless steel, rubber, recycled paper, seeds (daffodil, thistle, dog rose, clover) and milk paint, organic plant based logwood watercolour and resin.

19cm length x 6.5cm wide £1950 + shipping

Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing – thank you!

Wizardry in Wood 2021

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It’s the last day today of the 2021 Wizardry in Wood exhibition, normally held every four years by the Worshipful Company of Turners. I thought that I would be able to take part this year after it had been postponed from last year because of Covid but sadly I had to withdraw.

Like so many women I have been suffering with various symptoms that going through the menopause brings. It’s a very unpleasant time which throws up many challenges – particularly when it comes to trying to maintain your work levels. Not only have my energy levels and general mojo been down, my immune system has also been thrown out of wack and with Covid still very much with us I did not feel that it was a wise idea to travel to London and be at a show (hopefully) filled with people!

I did make a couple of sets of salt and pepper mills to send to the show which the organisers were kind enough to exhibit on their Bursary stand.

The pink and black mills were inspired by the beautiful Japanese magnolia trees, Magnolia Liliiflora. They began on a visit that I made to Bodnant Gardens in North Wales. This beautiful National Trust property is famous for its collections of plants from all around the world and among them are more than 500 magnolias. I love their large dramatic flowers graduating from a deep pink to white and so I used this as inspiration on the deeply carved sycamore base and top.

I also love the process of Shou Sugi Ban – the particularly striking method of preserving wood by charring which originated in Japan in the 18th century. Burning wood gives it a different softer black to colouring it with paints or dyes and accentuates the grain. So for the other mill base and top I scorched the surface of the turned elm and wire brushed it to bring out the beautiful three dimensional grain texture.

There is also a wonderful sunken pool surrounded by plants of all different purple hues which is one of my favourite parts of the garden. One of them is Osteospermum Purple Sun, with stunning flowers graduating out from purple to pink to yellow. The photos that I took of them led to this new second set of mills that I made for Wizardry in Wood. The bases of the mills are turned and carved before being airbrushed to match these vibrant colours, and the tops have a ‘blobbed’ texture to represent the centre of the flower.

I hope that all the other makers had a great show!

#wizardryinwood2021

New Collaboration

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In the last few months I have been working on an exciting new collaboration with Chloe Needham, a paper artist also living in North Wales.

It has been really interesting working with someone who’s medium is completely different to mine and one I haven’t had any experience of before (except being slightly obsessed with cutting things up with scissors when I was at school!).

After some discussions together at Chloe’s house in Llanrwst we eventually decided on a design for a sculptural moth light.  With me making the body and Chloe the delicate coloured wings, the moth would rest on a bare bulb hanging on a wall.

We were then very fortunate to be able to visit Rhyd-y-Creuau – the Field Studies Centre in North Wales (and where my partner Mark works) – where we were able to look at the moths caught the night before by Alice, and their collection of moths and butterflies.  It was great to be able to see them in 3D, see how they moved and flew and look closely at the fine details.

Looking at the moth trap at Rhyd-y-Creuau
Chloe and Alice
Chloe and me

 

We are close to finishing the piece and hope to have it ready in time for me to show it at Wizardry in Wood in London this October (www.wizardryinwood.com)

 

carving the body out of ash
moth body with scale drawing
copper antennae and blackwood eyes
trying out wing designs
working out the legs
legs in copper

Wizardry in Wood Oct 2016

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I will be exhibiting in London from the 12th-15th Oct 2016 at Wizardry in Wood – organised by the Worshipful Company of Turners, and only held every 4 years.  You can find out more and buy tickets at https://wizardryinwood.com/

One of the oldest Livery Companies in the City of London, the Turners’ Company was already a guild in the 12th Century. Some 200 years later, Edward III decreed that ‘wooden measures, as well for wine as for ale’ should be made only by ‘turnours’ with marks of their own – and the medieval turners established the English ‘pint’ as an official measure. In 1604 the Company received its Royal Charter from James I.

This year their one of competitions is commemorating the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London and I have made a special piece inspired by the start of the fire at the bakery at Pudding Lane which will be exhibited at the show.

fireengraving

 

Beautiful and amazing original works by over 70 of the world’s greatest contemporary woodturners

Where, When, How?

Where: In the spectacular and spacious Carpenters’ Hall in the heart of the City of London.

When: Wed 12 – Sat 15 October: opens 10am each day.  On Wed 12, Thur 13 & Fri 14 October: closes 6pm, last entry 5pm.  On Sat 15 October: closes 4pm, last entry 3pm

Go to http://www.wizardryinwood.com to buy tickets

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New furniture with Cillian O’Suilleabhain

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Mock up for large cabinet

My latest project is a collaboration with Irish furniture maker Cillian O’Suilleabhain.  We met in June during the Irish wall project, got on really well and decided it would be an exciting new venture to work together on some furniture pieces.  The challenge was how to combine my finely detailed, organic work with the minimal geometric aesthetic of his furniture.

It’s taken a lot of experimentation, tests, and discussion but we are very happy with the results so far and are looking forward to showing them at the two London shows coming up soon.