Heather Jones from Los Angeles came on our professional course with no woodworking skills.
But her Gertrude’s Cabinet of Cocktail Curiosities demonstrates that she has certainly learned them now.
It’s a stunning and monumental piece 75cm wide and 100 cm high, and made from stained sycamore.
Before coming to the Chippendale school, Heather was an art director and graphic designer.
She therefore already had the visual and artistic skills to design her own pieces.
Indeed, one of her hobbies was designing furniture, but without having the skills to make it.
That visual skill was further learned working as a set and production designer in Hollywood.
Her drinks cabinet echoes that glamorous past, with its imposing size, hand-turned legs and carved doors.
Inside, it has two drawers ideal, so Heather says, “for love poems scribbled on napkins while sipping (too much) gin.”
It has Japanese pegs holding it together, mitred corners and rounded edges – a superb and commanding piece of furniture.
The playful nature of her pieces is also evident in her Double “Oh James Darling, Get me a Cocktail” Table.
It’s a lovely piece of work, with a Sapele veneer radial table top, fluted base and brass accent.
A third wonderful piece is her course mirror, with the mirror gilded in 13 carat gold.
It’s framed in a carved bamboo frame of sycamore and lime and gilded in 23 carat red gold.
Heather will be staying on at the school for a few months then returning to the USA.
But she’s loved her time in Scotland so much that she’ll be back soon!
