A Night at the Opera
Cellulose finish
Sycamore

On holiday in 2009 I was inspired by the architecture and style of the Tenerife Opera House and pondered long and hard over how I might produce that beautiful arching curve. This piece is the result.

Base 25cm x 14cm x 14 high
(10in x 5½in x 5½in)

£350 Made to order

Urchin
Oil finish

This was inspired by the Singapore balls I make (below). There are thirty two spikes set into the ball like the spines of a sea urchin, although I took the precaution of rounding the ends. It’s an attractive object and it could be used to display rings over the spines.

Ball 7cm dia with spines 5cm long
(2¾in & 2in)

£70

Hermit
Wax finish.
Holly

While exploring the theme of cutting bowls and rejoining the pieces I created this piece. I rather like the juxtaposition of the pointed corners and the curved points of the rings.

12cm x 12cm x 17cm (diagonal)
(4¾in x 4¾in x 6¾in)

It has recently been purchased for inclusion in The Daniel Collection.

Sold

Hermit II
Wax finish.
Beech & Sycamore

A variation on a theme, I wanted to make a ‘slimmer’ version of Hermit, and to experiment with different woods. I think the experiment has worked well.

14cm x 4½cm x 21cm (diagonal)
(5½in x 1¾in x 8¼in)

£145

Gavel and Block
Wax finish

The first one of these I made for a neighbour, and from time to time someone asks me to make another one. The one on the left is oak, that on the right is laburnum.

gavel head 5.5cm dia x 9.5cm long
(2¼in x 3¾in) Other parts in proportion.

£45 gavel & block

Space to Think
wax finish
Sycamore

This piece is currently ‘on tour’ with the Association of Woodturners of Great Britain, and will remain with them until August 2008. It was chosen, along with others, at the AWGB seminar at Loughborough University.

25cm diameter (10in)

(The piece has now been returned and is available for sale)

£245

Apples and...
Wax finish.

Apple sized

I make apples in a wide variety of woods, for example yew, olive ash, elm, sycamore, walnut and spalted Beech. Apples and other fruit make the perfect small gift. This particular one is in laburnum.

£10 each

...other fruit
Wax finish.

Approximately life sized

Someone asked me recently if I would make them some other fruit - plums, cherries etc. This is the outcome. I couldn’t find a convincingly orange timber so the orange is made of sycamore which was then stained. However, the lemon is made from pau amerello, the plums are purpleheart and the cherries padauk, all showing their natural colours. The apple in the background is stained sycamore, and was an experiment which worked rather well, I thought.

£10 per item

Singapore Balls
Wax finish

Singapore balls have no practical use, but are fascinating 'executive toys'. The dark reddish coloured ones here are made from cocobolo and the pale one is hawthorn. When the ball is tossed in the air, or rolled along the ground, all the spikes emerge at the same time. But when you catch it in your hand the spikes retract and inflict no pain. Its like a gentle mediaeval mace. The perfect gift for the wood lover who has everything.

6cm dia
(2½in)

£65

Seed Pod
Wax finish.
Sycamore and ebony

The variation in the shapes of such simple things as seed pods is a constant source of inspiration. Many seeds are equipped with hooks, spikes and burrs which help them attach to passing creatures and thus enlist their unknowing help in seed dispersal.

£185
 

I like modern art!
Acrylic paint finish.
Beech & birch

Inspired by the work of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, the coloured sections are pieces of a bowl, cut and glued to the black base by the bowl’s rim. I genuinely do like modern art, and the apparent simplicity of this piece conceals a complexity only apparent on close examination.

25cm x 25cm x 3½cm
(10in x 10in x 1½in)

£150

Married Quarters
Oil & Wax finish
Roupala lacewood & Holly

I have called this an ‘interactive’ piece because it can be rearranged to create different effects, rather than simply viewed from a single perspective. The interlocked rings marry the pieces together.

7.5cm x 7.5cm joined by interlocked 12cm rings
(3in x 3in x 4¾in)


£145 Made to order

Odd shaped balls
Wax finish
Sycamore

I was recently commissioned to make a Rugby ball. I’d never made one before, but the customer was pleased with the result and commented that he’d “bought one before, but it’s not as good as this”. Well, that suits me, too.

Ball 15cm tall x 10cm maximum diameter, on contrasting wood stand
(6in x 4in)

£55 Made to order