Students at the Chippendale school are required to make a number of pieces during the year, but our ethos is to allow students the freedom to create what they particularly want to make. It’s a freedom that gives students a chance to make practical pieces for their own homes, or as gifts to close family …
Most of the pieces that our students make are constructed from the more common timber species such as oak, olive ash or sycamore. So it’s always fascinating when a student uses an unusual species, trusting in their ability and imagination to fashion something both unique and very beautiful. That’s what John Grillo, a former business …
It’s always nice to hear from former students. Grant Palmer, a former policeman, who graduated in 2017, set up Dovetail & Rabbet to specialise in handcrafted furniture and bespoke kitchens. His signature piece, a beautifully-crafted drinks globe with an interior gilded in gold, is now earning him commission sales, partly on the back of coverage …
One of the marks of an extremely gifted student is someone who doesn’t suffer waste gladly, and will try to find value where others might only see rubbish. That’s a trait exhibited by Matt Hanley, from Leominster in Herefordshire, who is creating a whole array of wooden bowls from off-cuts of wood that might otherwise …
Isaac Young, from Suffolk, has already shown that youth is no impediment to designing and creating beautiful and inspiring pieces of furniture. His last piece, for example, was a walnut and olive ash sideboard cabinet comprising well over 400 precisely cut pieces of wood. The tambour doors to his cabinet were constructed from thin strips …
Gianluca Caregnato, from near Milan in northern Italy, has already completed a wonderful ash rocking chair and a beautiful art nouveau-inspired oak desk with no less than 54 intricately-formed pieces of walnut veneer. Now he’s turned his talents to a small project that he’s carrying out on behalf of his mother who is a keen …
