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Woodsman/Craftsman/Artist
After leaving school in 1978 Paul was apprenticed as a bookbinder and print finisher and worked in the industry for a number of years. In 1994, whilst on a hedge laying course at Drayton Manor, he realised that he was more suited to an outdoor life and started working full time in game, wildlife & woodland habitat management.
With the availability of ample supplies of wood from this new career Paul began to experiment with wood carving. After seeing a demonstration of large bowl wood turning at Westonburt Arboretum, he was inspired to try his hand at turning. An ample supply of wood allowed Paul to develop new techniques, although the work was often scrapped into the log basket. Through perseverance and determination he became a craftsman wood turner with the necessary skills to allow him to implement his artistic interpretation of his raw material, each piece of which is unique.
Paul is driven by a quest to produce the perfect form, he considers this to be a combination of the aesthetics of shape, faithfulness to the wood as well as problems of technique in turning and finishing. He feels he has come near to achieving this but expects it to be an elusive ideal which he can only strive to attain.
Paul prefers to see wood in its natural growing state before selecting pieces he will turn or carve. This together with the infinite variety of shapes and forms to be found in nature continue to be a source of inspiration to him and is the reason he wants to spend at least half his working time in woodland management.
After selecting a potential section of wood, which might otherwise be burned, he may deliberate for weeks or even months as to the best way to work it. Some of the pieces are too heavy for one man to lift and have to be trimmed with a chainsaw to produce the rough shape. The manner in which the work is mounted on the lathe has to be carefully planned so as to be able to produce the form on the inside and outside of the piece. As the wood is worked, and the true nature of the grain and other characteristics are exposed so Paul will refine his ideas in the search for his “perfect form”.
Surface finish is an important part of the final piece with hand sanding and polishing usually required. Before this stage is reached the finish from the cutting tool must be as fine as possible, this will often require the tool to be sharpened after a single cut.
Paul is a resident artist at First-View Gallery Stourhead where his work may be seen.
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