I make contemporary interpretations of traditional
Welsh Stick Chairs.
These old chairs, some dating back to the 17th Century, were often made quite roughly, from oak and ash, or whatever was lying about, bodged together by local village artisans, such as the blacksmith.
I became interested in this tradition when, in the late 1980s, I learned Green Woodwork and Windsor chair-making at Clisset Wood, Near Ledbury in Herefordshire. My teacher, Gudrun Leitz, introduced my to John Brown's book, 'Welsh Stick Chairs', and I was hooked.
I moved to Wales in 1987, after completing a furniture making course in Bristol. I had a small son and was wondering what to do with my life when I visited a friend on Sandy Lane, in Pennard, on Gower, and noticed a small run down old chalet for sale. My friend and I bought it, then and there, and spent the next year building ourselves a lovely wooden house.
After I finished studying building (HND) and Environmental Management (BSc) I went to Nicaragua for a year heading up a women's building team of volunteers to help with the reconstruction of housing for hurricane disaster victims.
When I returned to Britain, having let my house on Gower, I spent a year in the North Yorkshire Dales, working for an outdoor education centre , refurbishing bunk houses – building big platform bunk beds for children.
Finally I got home to Gower in 2002 and with the help of a small grant from the Arts Council of Wales, set myself up as a Welsh Stick Chair Maker, and have continued to make chairs ever since.
In 2005 I was lucky enough to buy a tiny, beautiful ash wood in the French Pyrenees, and a village house nearby in Taurinya. For the last decade I have been working both there and in Wales, having created a woodland project, workshop and a camp for chair making activities. There, I cut down my own trees and use ash, oak, maple, walnut and cherry for legs, spindles and steam bent arms. I get seasoned planked welsh oak, yew, or beech for the seats. From these parts, and these two countries, I have put together a collection of chairs, very much inspired by the spirit of the old three legged chairs.
I have recently moved back to Wales permanently. In 2015 I brought my chairs and myself home and am now living in Abergavenny, where I intend to settle.
I have a workshop and a lovely garden where I have already started work on my new Black Mountains collection. How exciting!
These old chairs, some dating back to the 17th Century, were often made quite roughly, from oak and ash, or whatever was lying about, bodged together by local village artisans, such as the blacksmith.
I became interested in this tradition when, in the late 1980s, I learned Green Woodwork and Windsor chair-making at Clisset Wood, Near Ledbury in Herefordshire. My teacher, Gudrun Leitz, introduced my to John Brown's book, 'Welsh Stick Chairs', and I was hooked.
I moved to Wales in 1987, after completing a furniture making course in Bristol. I had a small son and was wondering what to do with my life when I visited a friend on Sandy Lane, in Pennard, on Gower, and noticed a small run down old chalet for sale. My friend and I bought it, then and there, and spent the next year building ourselves a lovely wooden house.
After I finished studying building (HND) and Environmental Management (BSc) I went to Nicaragua for a year heading up a women's building team of volunteers to help with the reconstruction of housing for hurricane disaster victims.
When I returned to Britain, having let my house on Gower, I spent a year in the North Yorkshire Dales, working for an outdoor education centre , refurbishing bunk houses – building big platform bunk beds for children.
Finally I got home to Gower in 2002 and with the help of a small grant from the Arts Council of Wales, set myself up as a Welsh Stick Chair Maker, and have continued to make chairs ever since.
In 2005 I was lucky enough to buy a tiny, beautiful ash wood in the French Pyrenees, and a village house nearby in Taurinya. For the last decade I have been working both there and in Wales, having created a woodland project, workshop and a camp for chair making activities. There, I cut down my own trees and use ash, oak, maple, walnut and cherry for legs, spindles and steam bent arms. I get seasoned planked welsh oak, yew, or beech for the seats. From these parts, and these two countries, I have put together a collection of chairs, very much inspired by the spirit of the old three legged chairs.
I have recently moved back to Wales permanently. In 2015 I brought my chairs and myself home and am now living in Abergavenny, where I intend to settle.
I have a workshop and a lovely garden where I have already started work on my new Black Mountains collection. How exciting!