Sarah Quick is our latest intermediate course graduate, who says that she “absolutely loved my time at the Chippendale school.”

Sarah, a former development officer at the Scottish Rugby Union, also said that “it was fantastic to learn more about the fine details of furniture making, from dovetail joints through to finishing techniques.”

We only recently introduced the intermediate course to fill a gap between our one-week introductory course and the intensive 30-week professional course, with the course being run by Alan McGovern who has 33 years of woodworking experience.

“Alan is a very knowledgeable teacher and it has been a pleasure to learn from him,” says Sarah, who has long been a keen woodworking hobbyist.

Her main project during her month with us was to design and make a beech cabinet, complete with drawers and sliding doors, as a dog cage for her English pointer, Kobi.

The finished piece is both beautiful and utterly practical, and making it has given Sarah the confidence and skills to turn her hobby into a small business specialising in making furniture for dogs in the home.

If you’d like to follow in Sarah’s footsteps, our intermediate courses only have two students at any one time and there are no formal start and end dates, to better ensure that tuition can be fitted around students’ other commitments.

“I now have the confidence and skills to start up Kobi Creations, a furniture making company specialising in functional bespoke pieces for your pets,” says Sarah, and we all wish her every success.