Meet a Maker: Edition 2

My craft is traditional Orkney Chair making alongside furniture design and basket making. I left school when I was 16 years old to start an apprenticeship with a local, traditional Orkney furniture maker where I learned my craft and developed my skills. I worked with him for 9 years up until he chose to close his business, and I reached a crossroads. I felt that the only way to carry on with making furniture was to start my own business, so I started making furniture under my own name in 2006 and launched as The Orkney Furniture Maker in 2007.

2. What is one interesting fact about you?
Furniture making and woodwork runs in my veins! My great-grandfather was a traditional boat builder and my grandfather was a furniture maker.

3. How long have you been making?
I have been making things from wood for as long as I can remember, but I have been making as a career for over twenty five years.

4. Who is/are your favourite maker(s) in your craft? Anyone you admire in your craft field? 
I admire everyone who has kept my craft alive over the generations; everyone has had their part to play in taking this craft to where it is today. I admire the work of previous Orkney Chair maker, David Kirkness, who first saw the potential in taking the Orkney Chair from being made as merely as an item of necessity to turning it into a business and finding a market to sell Orkney Chairs. I also admire the work of local craftsman Reynold Eunson for the quality of his work and refinement of the Orkney Chair.

5. What is the most challenging skill/technique you learned in your craft? 
Learning the straw work part of making an Orkney Chair is the part that took the longest for me to get a grasp of and bring to a quality and standard that I was happy with. Much of it was self-taught through trial and error and perseverance.

6. What is your favourite part of your craft?
I get so much job satisfaction from what I do and the variety of work that we undertake in my workshop; from traditional furniture to more design lead pieces. It’s always great to make something beautiful from sustainable materials that is appreciated by our clients and will be treasured for generations.

7. What project are you most proud of and why?
I’m proud of all the work that we do, from the small to large and from some high profile customers to all the locals who support what we do.

8. If someone who knows nothing about your craft could know one thing, what would it be and why?
The Orkney Chair has come a long way from its humble beginnings to being a much sought after piece of furniture. Styles and trends come and go with the seasons and we are very fortunate to always find a market for the work that we produce.