The Chippendale International School of Furniture near Gifford is throwing its doors open for its Student Exhibition on Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th of June (6-8pm). This is an opportunity for visitors to see and buy the amazing pieces of furniture created by the students.
An interview with Chippendale Furniture alumni, Tara McIntosh, who now runs her business, Twiggd, from the Chippendale Incubator Centre.
What sort of work were you doing before becoming a student at the Chippendale International School of Furniture?
“I have an HND in Fashion Design and a Degree in Textile Design (weave and tapestry) from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art so I’m very much from a creative background. I had always wanted to learn cabinet making skills and had heard of the Chippendale School of Furniture years before but there was no way I could afford it.
“The summer before I started the course I was on a 27 hour train journey from Greece to Hungary where I randomly met a guy from Edinburgh. He was just about to start at ECA studying Furniture Design and he brought up Chippendale Furniture and I got really excited!
An interview with Seonaid Denholm who set up a furniture making business in a Chippendale Incubator unit after graduating from the Chippendale Furniture School.
“I fell out of a tree aged 9. Here I am, 14 years later, a few less broken bones but still playing around with wood!”
What sort of work were you doing before becoming a student at the Chippendale School of Furniture? Why did you choose furniture making?
“Prior to September 2010 I was a studying economic and social history at the University of Manchester, and working part time as a chef. Had I graduated a few years earlier the career path would have been very different; I would have a PGDE and be teaching primary school (well I would have hoped to have been). The pessimistic state of the economy dictated otherwise.”
An interview with Charles Oldham, fine wood carver and member of the Master Carvers’ Association.
Charles Oldham, a master wood carver, believes passionately in preserving the ancient skills he learned from an older generation of carvers; teaching woodworking students at the Chippendale International School of Furniture provides an opportunity to pass on these skills.
Charles Oldham specialises in restoration, architectural wood carving, letter cutting, carved and gilded ornaments, and gesso cutting. Charles has worked on a number of high profile restoration projects amongst them Windsor Castle, Hampton Court Palace, Spenser House and Tredegar House.
