I began working with wood as a child with my father, and then later as a coppice worker and greenwood craftsman. I went on to teach coppice crafts including spoon carving and chairmaking. I have worked extensively with willow, both in the UK and abroad making large sculptural outdoor structures. I am the author of Living Willow Sculpture (2000). I began woodturning seriously when I moved to Orkney in 2004. I have come to prefer native, and preferably local hardwoods, which I usually work in the green. These include ash, cherry, laburnum and other fruitwoods when I can get hold of them. I divide my time now between wood-turning, making furniture and outdoor seating, with occasional diversions into wooden automata making and garden whirligigs.
