Chippendale International School of Furniture Archives - Page 2 of 8

Sublime Vineyard Inspires Furniture Design Talent

Anthony Glynn has just headed home to Bath from the Chippendale International School of Furniture near Edinburgh. He was highly commended for his work at one of Europe’s premier furniture design and restoration schools, and now plans to start up his own bespoke furniture business. This is his Chippendale Experience.

“I had a 20 year career in the IT industry, followed by an extended gap year that has lasted almost 10 years. During that time I’ve built up and sold a successful restaurant and pub business, travelled around the world, run a ski chalet in the French Alps and been a chef and butler at a stately home in the New Forest.

New Zealand’s inspiring Waitaki Valley

“It was while doing voluntary work at the Sublime Vineyard in the inspirational setting of New Zealand’s Waitaki Valley that I got hooked by the woodworking bug. I was helping to recycle old French oak barrels into rustic furniture. They had previously been used for Pinot Noir wine making. The feeling of satisfaction of making something useful from a beautiful material was the seed for an idea that when I returned to the UK I would learn to make furniture professionally. It was this decision that ultimately led me to the Chippendale School.

Sunrise at the Chippendale School of Furniture near Edinburgh in Scotland

Inspiration from Scotland: sunrise at the Chippendale School near Edinburgh

“I found the Chippendale School by searching on the internet. The syllabus looked very broad and the vast amount of hands-on bench time really appealed to me. By chance I was visiting Edinburgh with my wife as she was researching her ancestry, so I took time out to visit the school. I met Anselm and was so impressed by the standard and quality of the furniture making and the idyllic setting of the school, that I brought forward my plans to undertake a furniture making course by a year and submitted my application to Chippendale immediately.

“Having now completed the course, the school has exceeded my expectations about how much I could learn. Looking back over the last nine months, you can see that we’ve crammed a lot in.

“For me, the highlights have been the many ancillary crafts and skills you learn at the furniture school: carving, gilding, marquetry, boulle work, glass skills, carving, and learning about veneering with Scott Grove, one of the visiting experts.

“Of course, the resident tutors have also been a vitally important factor in the learning experience for me personally. They’re extremely knowledgeable and phenomenally patient – being slightly forgetful, I must have asked Graham the same question fifty times! The student-to-pupil ratio was very good, and you soon get to know which tutor is best to go to for help in particular areas.

“From a standing start, in just nine months I’ve gained the confidence to know that I can make furniture on a successful commercial basis; the Chippendale course not only taught me how to make furniture, but just as importantly, how to go about setting up a commercially viable business model.

Anthony’s Retro Danish cabinet made in sweet chestnut

“I’m particularly proud of my final term project piece; a Retro Danish-style cabinet made in sweet chestnut with a striking rosewood veneered front, and fumed sweet chestnut detailing. I inlaid veneer stripes into the rectilinear legs and, together with the fumed sweet chestnut stripes in the cabinet, I’m thinking of developing this as my signature style. I plan to translate this signature into various other forms, including tables, desks, dressing tables and bedside cabinets.

Anthony’s Louboutin inspired stiletto table

“I was delighted to sell the cabinet at the end-of-course exhibition, along with my Louboutin-inspired stiletto table. I sold the stiletto table to a local art collector, and it was wonderful to see it on display in her home. You get a real confidence boost when someone buys a piece of your furniture!

“Now back in the ‘real world’, I don’t want to lose the momentum; I’m looking to rent workshop space and setup my own business in the Bath area. The money that I made from selling my pieces of furniture at the end of course exhibition is a great kick start for my new business; it will cover the rent for a year, and allow me to invest in some of the equipment that I need to make furniture again.

Anthony Glynn with Ali Wilson in Windsor Chair made at Chippendale School

Anthony Glynn with Ali Wilson seated in a Windsor Chair made by Ali, Anthony and Mark Oram

“As a footnote, at some point in the future I would love to return to the Sublime Vineyard in New Zealand and make a special piece of furniture for the vineyard owners Steve and Fenella, as a thank you for being the inspiration for what I know is going to be an incredibly satisfying second career for me.”

You can watch a short video in which Anthony Glynn talks about his pieces of furniture.

You can also read Anthony’s blog on his stay at Sublime Vineyard.

Anthony James Glynn Bespoke Furniture is taking on bespoke commissions for clients in the Bath area for new furniture and restoration projects. You can visit Anthony’s website.

Alice in Furnitureland: the Chippendale School Benefits from its First Ever Artist in Residence

Alice MacLean is a Canadian artist who graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 2012, where she majored in Fine Arts.

Alice is currently providing advice as the first ever Artist in Residence at the Chippendale International School of Furniture in East Lothian, near Edinburgh in Scotland. Over the last four months, Alice has created a portfolio of paintings based on her experiences of living in Scotland. She has recently exhibited at the Six Foot Gallery in Glasgow and will also be exhibiting in Edinburgh this spring.

Furniture restoration expert visits the Chippendale School of Furniture

This blog based on a conversation with Simon Macintyre, a visiting furniture restoration expert who runs his own restoration business in Sussex near London. Simon works on private furniture restoration and for the antique trade. It’s the ninth year that Simon has been running his course at the Chippendale School of Furniture.

“The furniture school students are always very enthusiastic; they love the learning experience. Usually they’ve not done any furniture restoration before. They maximize the learning opportunities here and many enjoy the furniture restoration week more than they initially expected.

“Each morning we discuss the pieces of furniture being restored. I’ve also given a talk on setting up a furniture restoration business. Several of the students want to go on to do furniture restoration rather than furniture making.

Intensive furniture making course is “a good deal for the serious woodworker” (Scott Grove)

Scott Grove, award-winning New York veneering artist, sculptor and woodworker, will soon be delivering another week long veneering course at our furniture school in mid-February 2014. Last year’s was his first ever course at a UK furniture making school. We are delighted to welcome him back. This is the second part of Scott’s blog (read the first blog here ).

The Chippendale School’s intensive 30-week furniture design and furniture making course hits a nice median between short programs and a full two- to four-year degree curriculum offer in the States. Dollar for dollar it is a good deal for the serious woodworker and saves a considerable amount of lost earnings time.

The 6000 sq. ft. shop is open 12 hours a day and the students utilize the facilities to maximize their experience. They have an abundance of heavy-duty, well-maintained, solid equipment.

They also have lots of homemade jigs and stations for quick and efficient work for specialized tasks such as dovetailing, spray rooms for finishing, turning, a separate sanding room with downdraft tables, photography, staging and more. When they don’t have an item they improvise with whatever challenge a student comes up with.

“Let’s get on with it!” Anselm would declare, as if nothing could stand in his way. For example, I explained a shooting board for cutting veneer with required ceiling-mounted pressing bars, and before I knew it, the tutors made one.

Anselm is not afraid to purchase whatever a student needs to get a project done. He picked up two deep throat scroll saws just for my marquetry class. He also includes all materials in the tuition, so students don’t inhibit their creative design process with concerns of material cost.

Safety was always stressed and each student was required to own an air-filtered venting helmet for eye, ear and dust protection. I was the one who felt a bit reckless with my paper dust mask, usually sitting around my neck. (I kept telling myself: safety gear has been removed for educational purposes!)

The shop atmosphere is cozy; each student has a bench with a full set of colour-coded tools. They have since expanded the shop, adding another 2800 sq ft, giving each student two benches of their own and allowing for even more ambitious projects.

Each day was action-packed with problem-solving every step of the way. For example, it turns out one can’t buy window screening anywhere in Scotland. (I use fibreglass window screening to help dry out veneer in the flattening conditioning process.) I thought, what… Scotland doesn’t have bugs?

Apparently they don’t use window screens, and we needed to figure out what else to use. This spawned a solution: use a fibreglass mat typically found in boat building. Who knew? We got on with it and kept the ball moving forward.

In concert with pushing the limits, some old-school traditional techniques are also taught such as stained glass, traditional hide gluing, tortoise shell and brasswork (boulle), oyster veneering, brass and mother-of-pearl inlay, and verre eglomisé (reverse glass gilding).

Water gilding is also taught, which is a traditional method used to apply gold leaf that makes a piece look like solid gold. It offers a much higher aesthetic than oil-sized gilding. This was especially interesting to me as this technique is taught only in a few places in the States and I wanted to compare notes. They’ve got it down ‘pat…en’. (Pun intended for gilders).

Evenings I spent discussing woodworking in the UK with Anselm and touring the local sites: castles, coastline, taverns for the best hand drawn ale I’ve ever had, along with some good conversation with the locals, although I couldn’t quite understand a word they were saying. Really, it was right out of a stereotype movie where I’d catch some profanity and the rest sounded like marbles in their mouths. We smiled and laughed a lot and everyone was very friendly.

The food?… did I mention how good the beer was? I was even treated to a massage by a strong-thumbed Mrs Doubtfire-double with all the pleasantries to boot: “Och, my dear, there ya go, there i’ tis, och aye…”

Students stayed in the local picturesque village of Gifford, which was a short bike ride away from the School.

I am anxious to return this season as I’ve been asked to head the entire veneering section. We will expand last year’s program and cover everything from traditional parquetry using a veneering donkey to marquetry, hand cutting to machine cutting, as well as my alternative techniques and compound veneering human forms.

For more information on the Chippendale School of Furniture click on the school menu above.

Hope to see you there in February 2014 or in 2015!

Taking a Chance on an Overseas School: Scott Grove Teaches Veneering at Chippendale School

Scott Grove, an award-winning New York artist, sculptor and woodworker, delivered an inspiring, week long veneering course to last year’s students at the Chippendale International School of Furniture near Edinburgh. This was his first ever course at a UK furniture making school and he’s coming back to teach this year’s students. This is the blog about his visit to the furniture school.

When I was asked to teach at The Chippendale International School of Furniture in Scotland, I jumped at the chance but wasn’t sure exactly what I was getting myself into. As it turned out, neither did they. It was a mutual gamble taken by both parties that yielded a great experience and exchange of knowledge. And the scotch and ale was pretty good too.

The Chippendale School offers a complete and diverse curriculum and brings in various experts to teach specialized skill sets. Travelling to the United Kingdom to introduce my pioneered veneering techniques was certainly an honor, but I wondered, would they be open to such innovative and unconventional practices? Would I even be able to understand what they were saying through their Scottish brogue?

Workshop improvements give students more bench space

Anselm wanted to ensure his tutors were kept busy during the summer holidays so they’ve been refurbishing the main workshop and creating more space round student benches.

Newly refurbished student workshop | Chippendale School

Anselm motivating the workers.

“Because we are a not-for-profit organisation, we are continually reinvesting in our buildings and facilities. Every year we make improvements. Our students wanted more space round their benches so we decided to make our workshop even bigger,” says Anselm Fraser. “We’ve also put in another huge woodburning stove to keep everyone warm in the winter.”

The Chippendale School studio workshop covers a massive 5,500 sq ft studio workshop so that everyone works together and is not split up into small workshops. What’s more every student has 2 dedicated benches (one clean and one dirty!) with lots of space to design and make pieces of furniture.

The monster wood-burning stove!

It’s a great environment for collaborating and sharing banter with colleagues. There are also 5 separate machine rooms just outside the main workshop to reduce the amount of noise and dust.