On leaving school I was accepted on to a foundation course for artwork at Newport College of art and although I did not immediately pursue a career in art a great deal of what I learned there has been extremely useful in my present work.

My 'career' in wood began over twenty years ago now, cutting and clearing small blocks of woodland, from there I progressed to larger woodlands with bigger stands of Oak, Ash and Elm, most of these found their way to a large sawmill near Monmouth. It was at this point that I decided I would like to learn more about the planting and management side of forestry, so I joined the woods staff on a large private estate near Crickhowell.

It wast here that I developed an interest in woodturning and I built myself a pole lathe from instructions found in an old woodlands crafts book.

What started as an interesting hobby to while away spare time soon became much more time consuming. There was such a lot to learn and the time soon came when I needed to modernise and buy a mechanical lathe rather than relying on the much slower traditional pole lathe. Over the last few years using my modern tools my approach to the work has changed slightly because although I still continue to make the more traditional domestic ware such as salad bowls, fruit bowls, breadboards etc., I can now make more individual one-off pieces that have a more aesthetic appeal which has opened the way to selling more and more to Galleries.

For the last few years I have successfully shown my work at the Chelsea Craft Fair and also have several private collectors of my work which is very satisfying.

The many years that I have spent in the timber industry have given me invaluable insight into the ways of cutting the logs to get the very best out of them. I use mainly British Hardwoods and I find they hold a special fascination for me because even in the same species of tree, the variation in colour and grain are endless.

In 1989, I successfully set up a Studio/Gallery and workshop in the new Craft Centre situated in the border town of Hay-on-Wye and this has given me great pleasure meeting so many people who appreciate the beauty of all the different woods I use.

	Burr elm
	Beech bowl 25cm by 20cm
	Olive ash