Imagination and artistic talent are attributes that some people have in abundance and, with the acquired skills of craftsmanship, can lead to the creation of fantastic pieces of furniture.

One such person is Candace Roberts from Trinidad & Tobago who studied interior decorating at university in New York before opening her own interior decorating and retail business in her home town of Port of Spain.

She was involved in everything from choosing furniture to soft furnishings, and from colour schemes to flooring and tiling.  Candace is also a keen painter and she sees furniture design through artistic eyes, reimagining functional furniture as expressions of artistic exuberance.

A piece she’s recently finished could be termed simply as a small console table, made from sycamore with a variety of fumed oak cubes on the table’s frame.

But it’s a transformational piece that is both geometric and tactile, and offers both visual complexities with an underlying simple design.

The fumed oak cubes were each cut by hand and fumed at different stages to create different effects of light and shade, with residual sap in the wood creating rippled patterns.

It is therefore a table that encompasses woodworking craftsmanship and artistic talent, transforming something ordinary into something extraordinary.  “The table reflects my eccentric way of seeing furniture,” says Candace.

Candace is making her home in Edinburgh and setting up De Four Design to take forward her artistic and furniture design journey.

That journey will, she hopes, include everything from designing kitchens to fine furniture – but with a particular emphasis on furniture upcycling because, as she says, “it’s great to find an old and unloved piece of furniture and give it a new lease of life.”