Acceptance into Society of Designer Craftsmen as a Bespoke Furniture Maker

I am delighted to have been accepted as a licentiate into the society of designer craftsmen. This society has been supporting the work of craftsmen since 1887, making it the oldest multi-disciplinary society in the UK, so it is a real honour to now be a part of this. It was originally formed as the Arts and Crafts Exhibition society to give voice to a growing body of designer-makers. Past members include people such as Charles Mackintosh, William Morris, David Pye and Gordon Russell so really quite the legacy! I took advantage of this at the earliest opportunity by exhibiting with the SDC at Handmade Chelsea, a wonderful event in the old Chelsea town hall where I met some of my lovely fellow members. I am greatly looking forward to getting to know them all even better of the coming years.  

At this event I was also asked to produce two pieces of work to sit either side of the entrance way to the show, which resulted in Current I and II, as shown below in situ and in my studio.

Currents is part of a series using Jesmonite as a medium to capture the flow and movement of our oceans and what lies beneath the surface. The work was originally inspired by ocean jasper specimens in the Natural History Museum, Oxford. The hand-carved carved channels in this piece are based on mapped global current pathways - not exactly diagrammatic, but presented as flowing channels moving across a spherical geometry. You can read more about this piece here.

Bespoke Furniture

Although I am predomininatly a bespoke furniture maker, this piece of pure sculpture developed on from my other work in the series using jesmonite fronts for a wall-mounted drinks cabinet shown below. You can read more about this piece here.

What I particularly like about the Society of Designer Craftsmen is that it still feels very much rooted in that original aim of supporting and championing designer-makers. It brings together people working across all sorts of disciplines, but with a shared focus on good design, originality and well-made work. Through exhibitions and events it creates opportunities to show work and reach new audiences, but just as importantly it offers a sense of community and a way to connect with other makers to keep pushing and developing our work.