Travels in Japan - Kawai Kanjiro's House

Despite most of Japan’s major museums being closed during my trip, (due to Covid 19 restrictions) I was delighted to still be able to visit Kawai Kanjiro’s House in Kyoto. Luckily most of the places I wanted to go are not classed as major attractions (what?!) so they were still open.

The museum & home of the late Japanese artist Kawai Kanjiro was one of the places I was especially looking forward to seeing. Kanjiro was a hugely influential figure in Twentieth Century ceramics and was central to the Mingei (Japanese Folk Art) and the Studio Pottery movements. He was a close friend and correspondent of Bernard Leach and Sôetsu Yanagi and together the three men shared a philosophical affinity, celebrating the “unknown craftsman” and traditional folk crafts, cultures and values.

Mingei philosophy is hugely significant for me. It is these ideas that really got me interested in pottery - or at least that have helped me hold my attention to it for long enough to develop some small amount of skill.

The house was constructed by Kanjiro in the 1930’s, together with his architect brother and father. It has a wooden frame with sliding paper screens and tatami mats, combined with handcrafted furniture, ceramics, woodwork and textiles. Kanjiro’s pottery workshop and two kilns are also on display - I was particularly taken with the long and useful looking fire tools!

The house, garden and studio had a beautiful, tranquil atmosphere and as the only visitors that morning, we felt very lucky to explore the place alone, except for the resident cat.

www.kanjiro.jp

Travels in Japan - Utsuwa

One of the most inspiring parts of my trip to Japan was visiting lots of modern utsuwa shops. The Japanese word utsuwa literally means “vessel” or “container”, and usually refers to any kind of cup, plate, dish, or pot. Basically all of my favourite things! I suppose utsuwa is fairly close to our word tableware, but utsuwa seems to possess an onomatopoeic quality of softness and roundness, which almost mimics the shapes of the objects it signifies.

Utsuwa is quietly revered as an essential part of daily life in Japan and we visited several beautiful shops that I didn’t want to leave. The spaces blurred the lines between a shop and a gallery and I really loved the calm art of display.

Of course the pottery was very inspiring too and it has helped give me confidence in my own direction. Too often I feel potters are made to think we should concentrate on making large decorative items, but my love is almost entirely for the small and useful pot.

A few of my favourites shops were Utsuwa Monotsuki and Ouchi Kyoto as well as the many different small shops in Mashiko.

Travels in Japan - Shoji Hamada's House

As a potter from Cornwall with an interest in the Leach tradition, visiting Shoji Hamada’s magnificent thatched house in Mashiko was always going to be a highlight of my trip.

After moving back to Japan from St Ives in 1923, Hamada dedicated his life to making pottery while influencing other craftsmen to work alongside him in promoting the Mingei philosophy. In 1924, he established his studio in Mashiko and committed to the use of locally sourced materials and tools including clays, glazes, and brushes. In turn, this small pottery town, became a centre of Japanese folk crafts.

Hamada’s house, now forms part of the Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art, but was originally built in the town Ichikai in the late Edo period. It was purchased by Shoji Hamada - who deeply appreciated traditional buildings - and rebuilt in Mashiko. The earthen floor was reconstructed and initially used as one of his earliest potteries. Later, the house was used not only as Hamada’s residence, but also as a place for hosting cultural exchanges with visitors from around the world.

It was fascinating to wander around the house and imagine it full of lively conversation and craftspeople. It was very quiet when we were there but the climbing kiln outside pointed to a time of prolific making and community. I found the whole museum a great opportunity to reflect on Hamada’s influence on pottery and what it means to be a true advocate of craftsmanship.

www.mashiko-museum.jp

Travels in Japan - Ken Matsuzaki

In Mashiko I was lucky to be able to visit Ken Matsuzaki’s workshop. I have met Ken previously at Kigbeare Gallery and Studios, and Maddy (owner of Kigbeare) kindly helped arrange for me to visit him at home in Japan.

Ken’s workspace is a series of buildings built around his home. It was a very inspiring space and we had tea in his showroom and looked at lots of pots that were about to go to an exhibition elsewhere in Japan.

More than anything, I love Ken Matsuzaki’s open minded approach to pottery. He uses three different types of firing - gas, electric and wood - and several clays. He also throws and hand builds - and mixes materials using lacquer lids and metal handles made by his brother. This approach is unusual - yet completely inspiring - and it was great to see all his different types of work laid out together as a cohesive whole.

We also looked at his anagama kilns (he has two) and in his workshop. The whole place was very beautiful and although I didn’t take many photos, I took a lot of information in. Visiting Ken’s studio was undoubtedly one of the highlights of my trip and I’m very grateful for the time he took to show me around.

Travels in Japan - Mashiko

These photos are a few seemingly mundane images from my time in Mashiko, yet I’ve decided to lead with them as they capture something of the quiet, rural atmosphere of the town.

At the time of my trip in early March 2020, the new coronavirus or Covid 19 was definitely in the news. However international travel to/from the UK was still freely allowed, and the UK government advice was to carry on as normal but wash your hands a lot. So after a little deliberation, that is exactly what I did.

In Japan there was definitely a more cautious atmosphere - tourists from China had been banned and schools and major museums were closed. It is difficult for me to know exactly what was normal and what was Covid 19-induced but the streets of Mashiko were very quiet and the town felt almost mysteriously empty.

Mashiko is located in the gently rolling hills of Tochigi Prefecture, known for its strawberries and pottery, and is reached via a succession of smaller and smaller trains. On arrival, it looked as though everything was closed, but then I realised most businesses were actually open. It was a little confusing but by the end of my trip I came to really enjoy the low key atmosphere. I live rurally anyway and find this level of peace and quiet comforting.

Over my week there, I did a lot of walking around and felt like I got to know the place a little. It wasn’t what I expected - although I’m not sure what I expected - but it had a very charming, low key and quietly beautiful atmosphere punctuated with an occasional dilapidated building, amazing bakery or pottery shop. I’d go again in a flash, because I imagine it’s the kind of place that I’d like to take the time to get to know really well.

I’m very pleased that I managed to get to Japan (and back!) when I did and would like to thank the Leach Pottery for awarding me a travel bursary towards my trip. I will be documenting my trip with a series of journal posts over the coming weeks.

My Pottery Packaging

Over the years, packaging my pottery has become almost as much of an art form as making the pots themselves.

My husband Andrew does most of the packaging and a couple of early disasters (a whole box of chipped plates arriving at a restaurant) made us realise that it is worth going over and beyond what seems necessary - as I would much rather use a bit of extra padding and have the items arrive intact!

We have used lots of different materials over the years and have settled on what is hopefully the most efficient, eco friendly and attractive option. We use boxes made of recycled cardboard, local straw (a brilliant traditional packaging material) recycled craft paper and mostly paper tape (I’m having some supplier issues with this). Our aim is to steer clear of plastic and ensure everything is either recycled or recyclable.

I hope that people enjoy receiving and opening their parcels. I have been told that the straw reminds people of a lucky dip and I was very happy to see these pictures of a customer’s cat reusing the box for their own cosy bed.

Pots In Print - Guardian Food

It is always a joy to see images of my pottery in print and it’s been especially nice to see it pop up in the UK’s Guardian newspaper lately.

Chef, Author and Food Stylist Anna Jones has been using my pieces for some time, both in her cookbooks and in her weekly The Modern Cook column.

Anna’s recipes focus on modern vegetarian cooking - exactly the kind of food I like to eat (and occasionally cook!) - and are incredibly beautifully styled. I wish I could make food look that good!

Here is a small selection of images that have been included lately.

Thank you Anna!

www.theguardian.com/food/

Master Series: Shoji Hamada

I recently wrote about Shoji Hamada as part of a job application that I didn’t get. Never mind, these things happen for a reason! I did enjoy researching and writing the piece though, and it reminded me of all the years I spent training to be a design journalist and how much I love learning about other people and celebrating their successes.

I thought I’d use my words to start a new Master Series, a place where I’ll explore the contributions of some of my favourite craftspeople.

Shoji Hamada

1884-1978

Shoji Hamada is one of the most important and influential potters of the 20th century. A great friend and colleague of Bernard Leach, Hamada moved from Japan to St Ives in 1920 to help establish the Leach Pottery, building its first wood-burning climbing kiln. Together the two men drove a new studio pottery movement in the West - one that celebrated craftsmanship, functionality and the timeless beauty of natural materials.

A humble and charismatic artist, Hamada produced individual pieces of stoneware as well as slip decorated earthenware. He threw fluently, using a Chinese-style hand wheel, rotated by a stick. Often throwing while holding a conversation and surrounded by friends and family, he made the process seem effortless and did much to bring traditional Japanese forms into the modern western aesthetic.

He decorated the clay with energy and ease, using incised, painted and poured decoration that was at once generous yet economical. His work gave the materials used a new prominence of their own.

On his return to Japan in 1923, Hamada established his own pottery in Mashiko and was instrumental in developing the Mingei movement – advocating a return to the essentials of art, producing only necessary items and living simply with the earth. He committed to using exclusively local materials, not only for the clay and glazes, but also for brushes and tools, which he made himself from animal hair and bamboo.

Hamada’s work and personal life were the embodiment of this philosophy and in 1955 he was declared a ‘National Living Treasure' in Japan. Over sixty years later, his work and philosophy seem as relevant today as they ever were and his legacy lives on in those that find beauty in craftsmanship, function and nature.

Winter Open Studio

This December Andrew and I are hosting our first ever open studio and Xmas sale. I will be selling new items from the most recent wood firing at Kigbeare Studios and Gallery as well as pieces from my electric kiln.

Andrew will have a selection of illustrations for sale, alongside wood turned pieces.

We will both have plenty of firsts and a few seconds available…

We look forward to welcoming you into our spaces and giving you the opportunity to visit our small studios in person!

Date: Sunday 1st December and Monday 2nd December

Time: 10am-4pm.

If you’d like to come, please get in touch via hello@rebeccaproctor.co.uk for directions.

See you there!

Rebecca & Andrew x

Omega Workshops

I am delighted to have made a collection for Charleston in Sussex to support their Post-Impressionist Living: The Omega Workshops exhibition.

For those who aren’t already familiar, Charleston is a beautiful house, garden and gallery which was home to several members of the Bloomsbury Group including Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, in the early twentieth century. It offered a creative playground for some of the most prolific artists, thinkers and innovators of the time, who believed in debate, creativity, beauty, innovation and truth. Today the Trust still promotes the groups experimental approach, celebrating historical collections while also championing contemporary artists and makers. It’s an incredibly inspiring place to visit and I thoroughly recommend it if you get chance.

The Omega Workshops were a design collective, founded by Roger Fry in 1913, which involved several members of the Bloomsbury Group. Together they created bold and playful household items inspired by the post-impressionist movement.  The exhibition at Charleston includes textiles, ceramics, furniture and clothing which all played a role in bringing modern art into people’s homes.

My pottery was chosen for the accompanying museum shop as they felt it was evocative of Frys, a generous and humbling comparison.

The Omega Workshop Exhibition runs from 14th September 2019 - 19th January 2020.

Photos taken by Lee Robbins, styling by Lottie Warren for Charleston.

Quarry Trip

These photos of Newdowns Sand and Clay Pits are from a beautiful series of shots taken by photographer and sculptor Daniel Scott.  Situated on the seaward side of the granite uprising that is St. Agnes Beacon on the north coast of Cornwall, the pits have been worked for hundreds of years; certainly since the Middle Ages and probably since pre-Roman times. They are legendary amongst potters as the native clay is used as the base for a range of mid to high temperature clays, which have been made by the Doble family for generations.  The clays are used for everything from sculpture to pottery to constructing dams, and have been the materials of choice for world renowned potters, including Bernard and Janet Leach, Richard Batterham and many others.

I've been using Doble's clay since I set up my studio, and Daniel was keen to photograph some of the people who use the pits, so one sunny and windy day we both ventured down there.  As a sculptor, Daniel is familiar with the clay and once you've paid the quarry a visit, it's easy to become strangely intrigued by the elemental nature of the place.  The future of the quarry can seem uncertain, but I'll continue to use the clay, in some way, as long as I can. Largely because visiting and exploring the area, where water, wind and clay come together, is always such a fascinating experience.

The British Craft Pavilion

Last week I enjoyed being part of the British Craft Pavilion, part of the London Design Festival. It was a brilliant and busy four days, and despite my protests beforehand that I don't like London much anymore and that I'd rather stay at home, it was actually a lot of fun.

The event was curated by Hole & Corner magazine who put together a typically thoughtful and unique selection of makers. I was honoured to be included amongst other talented ceramicists including Linda Bloomfield, Dove Street Pottery, Pottery West and Kana.  The joy of mixed craft events is that I also got to admire some very beautiful handcrafted knives, quilts and furniture.

The pavilion was housed at the Truman Brewery, which played host to several other London Design Fair events too. The building is a complete rabbit warren and I could not honestly tell you all the different events and people that were there.  However Cold Press Gallery on the top floor, stood out for me as being insanely beautiful, as did the Craft Scotland showcase, which had some incredible textiles.

My somewhat homely display was a last minute decision. I used some old wooden pigeonholes and a table from home and piled them high with pottery. The side wall seemed a little empty so I hung some beetroot across it.  I've always liked to reinforce the connection between pottery and food, but it seemed to bewilder many people. "Why beetroot?" they would ask while taking a photo. Why not? I shrugged, wondering what are all those people going to do with a picture of beetroot anyway?

Hole & Corner

I am busy getting ready for The British Craft Pavilion, where I'll be exhibiting as part of London Design Week. The event takes place from 21-24th September and is curated by Hole & Corner magazine. 

Below is an interview with me, recently featured on the Hole & Corner website, along with beautiful photos by Chloe Winstanley. It felt a little bit strange answering these questions - I'm still getting used to being interviewed rather than being the interviewer!

Potter Rebecca Proctor fell in love with the process after her first lesson, she tells us why focus and discipline are key to successful production pottery...

Tell us a bit about yourself…
Modern Craft Workshop is my North Cornwall based studio. I chose the name because I wanted something open ended. In the beginning I thought I might sell other people's work, but then I've been so busy making my own, I haven't had time.

How did you get started?
About eight years ago I noticed a small handmade sign in my local post office advertising pottery wheel throwing lessons. After my first lesson, I remember thinking “this is it.” I just loved it and I made a commitment to keep practicing for the rest of my life. I’ve been working at that ever since, and thankfully, I’ve improved over time. I was pretty crap at first but I’ve always had a lot of patience and I enjoy the process of learning more than anything else. 

What do you specialise in making?
Plates, bowls, cups, jugs…I make wheel thrown pottery for everyday use. I love making simple, pared back, functional pieces and often work with chefs and restaurants, I’ve created tableware for some amazing dining rooms. I use local Cornish stoneware clay and mix my own glazes using natural materials.

Do you have a particular philosophy or set of values when you approach your work you can describe?
I try to be very focused and disciplined. I think you have to be with production pottery. There are so many different stages and one slip-up along the line can ruin everything. There’s a surprising amount of philosophical writings about pottery and it’s one of the things that first attracted me. I read Leach and Yanagi early on and I’m definitely influenced by that Eastern school of thought. I’m always striving to make beautiful, functional pottery. Although, ultimately, I just try to make each piece a little bit better than the one before.

What part of your job most pleases you?
It’s hard to say, as each part of the process is so important, but the thing I enjoy the most is throwing. I love to sit at the wheel and make a whole batch of bowls – that’s probably my favourite way to spend a day. I also enjoy firing wood kilns. I like the unknown nature of the firing and the anticipation for what treasures could be inside. Working with mud and transforming it with fire, is an endlessly fascinating elemental process.

Is there a particular material, person or object that has influenced your work?
My influences are diverse because I come from a design background (I used to be a design writer and trends analyst) but I’ve gradually moved away from that and immersed myself in a more traditional craft culture. My home, on the border of Devon/Cornwall, is an area rich with pottery history and I’ve naturally absorbed and learned from this. Local craftsmen Svend Bayer and Clive Bowen are a huge influence and I’m delighted that I now get to work with Svend at the Kigbeare Kiln Project in Devon.

What do you like listening to when you’re working?
Often just birds singing in the garden and animals from the local farm - also fire crackling when we’re firing. For something a little louder I like music of a folk/rock/country/blues persuasion and usually listen to old radio programmess on iPlayer. I’m also partial to audiobooks – almost always non-fiction – on all kinds of crazy subjects.

Who’s your ideal buyer/audience?
Anyone who loves craftsmanship and eating good food.  My simple aim is to make pottery that enhances meal times and makes an everyday experience a little more enjoyable. I work with a lot of amazing chefs and enjoy the synergy between high-level cookery and pottery, but equally, I’m just as happy making domestic pots that anyone can enjoy at home.

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Photographs Chloe Winstanley
Interview Julia Jarvis

From Hole & Corner

Work in Progress

Here are a few photos of my work in the pottery over the last few weeks. I've been very focused with my head down and hands at the wheel making lots of pots for a new restaurant. Luca opens on St John Street, London, in November, and is owned by the boys behind The Clove Club. The restaurant will serve Italian food made with a British influence and ingredients, so I've been making pasta bowls, olive bowls and two types of rimmed plate for antipasti. I developed these shapes over the past few months with chef Isaac McHale and I'm excited for them going to their new home. This order is honestly quite large for me and I was worried about managing such quantity, but decided to just pull my socks up and get on with it. Several hundred pieces of pottery later, I'm glad I did.

Welcome back

Hello! It's been over a year since I wrote my last post. I took the blog down for a while because I needed some time to concentrate on making pottery. Now, as part of this new website, the journal is back and I hope to make posting a semi-regular thing. I will be writing about my projects, process and small-time adventures. I also plan to feature inspirational craftspeople (I am some sort of trained journalist after all) and I like to promote the good work of others in any way I can. 

Across the website you can see some beautiful new photographs by Daniel Scott. This picture above is from when a passing toad joined us on our shoot. He didn't make the final edit, but I thought he might add a little bit of local character to the journal.

The Craft Revolution

For those of us interested in twentieth century craftsmanship, Dartington Hall in Devon, is a place to be revered and celebrated. Craft tradition at Dartington goes back a long way, the hall was founded in the 1920’s, based on the idea that ‘the arts and craft [are] the foundations of human flourishing’.

Dorothy Elmhirst, the co-founder of Dartington was greatly influenced by William Morris and one of the first artists that she invited to Dartington in 1926 was the potter Bernard Leach (pictured above in his studio at Shinner's Bridge, Dartington). Leach’s former assistant Sylvia Fox-Strangways installed a kiln at Dartington and felt it was her duty to bring art to everyone on the estate from ‘children to bricklayers’.

The Elmhirsts were pioneers and they poured their resources into the “Dartington Experiment” – restoring the estate buildings and setting up a host of farming, forestry and educational projects. Early initiatives included Dartington Hall School, Dartington Tweed Mill and later Dartington Glass. They also commissioned craftspeople to make unique work for the estate, including the beautiful Modernist tapestries by Elizabeth Peacock, still hanging in the Great Hall. Dartington quickly became a magnet for artists, architects, writers, philosophers and musicians from around the world, creating an exceptional centre of creative activity.

The estate has just appointed a new chairman and with his support launched a series of craft courses which hopefully will restore the links between Dartington and craft. The Craft Revolution features a diverse range of courses from furniture making to building a tiny home, brewing beer, dressmaking, cheesemaking and kiln building.

The Spoon Camp with Barn the Spoon sounds particularly good. Barn is an excellent spoon carver and the camp is a whole weekend of spoon and bowl carving for beginners, newcomers and anyone who would like to practice their spoon carving skills. There will be camping in the woods, sourdough pizza, coffee, local ales, cider, films and fresh woodland air… All while learning how to carve spoons, bowls and utensils.

It's a brave move for Dartington but as Bernard Leach said, “with hindsight, the years at Dartington were of thought and exchange of thought and friendships, a time of enrichment and expansion for which I am deeply grateful. […] For me personally, the years there provided a pause in my life, between East and West, during which I had the opportunity to assess its basic values, Dartington was a brave effort, worth all the cost.”

Spoon Camp - A Weekend in the Woods with Barn the Spoon, takes place from Thurs 1st - Sunday 4th October 2015, at North Woods on the Dartington Estate, Devon.

Gnarly Dudes

Gnarly Dudes are a collective of five potters: Svend Bayer, Charles Bound, Nic Collins, Jon Fellows and Chuck Schwartz, who first staged an exhibition of their English anagama-style wood-fired work on Dartmoor, Devon, in 1997. Since then, the phrase Gnarly Dudes has come to be used to describe not just the potters, but also as a reference to the style of 'gnarly' pottery that they make. This is a style that I didn't really understand until I moved to the West Country, and began to learn about the traditions of country pottery, and the techniques used in different types of firing. Now though, these are the very pots that inspire me most, and this type of work feels very connected to the area in which I now live. A couple of weeks ago the Gnarly Dudes got together again and held Gnarly Dudes Revisited - a new exhibition of fresh work, made especially for the event. The show celebrated the way each of the men's work has progressed over the past eighteen years (Jon Fellows now works with wood, for instance), and how they all still choose to use techniques and processes that lend themselves to creating extremely rugged and honest pieces. For firing pottery, the Gnarly Dudes favour anagama-style wood-fired kilns, which are based on the medieval Japanese kilns used mostly at Bizen and Shigaraki. The kiln is usually a tunnel and the heat is drawn over the stacked pots, allowing smoke, ash and embers to freely come into contact with them. The pots are minimally decorated before firing, instead letting the smoke, ash and embers interact with the clay to produce beautiful, natural gradations of colour and finish. Placement of the pots in the kiln is critical, as is the selection of wood and clay. At the event I was struck not just by the beautiful and rambling nature of Nic Collins' Barn Pottery, where the exhibition was held, but also by the majestic nature of the pots. They all have highly tactile surfaces that beg to be touched and many different natural colours and patterns pooling on the surface or in the glaze. Pots were displayed indoors and out, and there was also an abundance of pots just strewn about, waiting to be sorted or sold. It was a quiet reminder of just how much practice is required to become adept at this art. Several weeks after seeing this exhibition, I'm still thinking about the work that I saw there a lot. That is probably the mark of a great exhibition, one that continues to influence you, long after you have left it behind. I hope that in some way wood-firing will play a part in my future, and who knows, I might even become just that little bit more gnarly.

Gnarly Dudes Revisited took place at The Barn Pottery, Moretonhampstead on 18th-19th April 2015.

Chelsea Miller Knives

Here is the first in a series of interviews I am featuring from my new book, The Sustainable Design Book. I've chosen to highlight a few of my favourite makers whose work and craftsmanship fits as well on these pages, as on those inside the book. Chelsea Miller makes some of the most beautiful knives I have ever seen and I wrote about her work a couple of years ago here. The knives are created by hand, from repurposed high-carbon steel taken from discarded tools, with handles of local maple, cherry and applewood. The result is incredible knives which are seriously functional with a unique aesthetic.

How did you become a knife maker? I started making knives in my fathers blacksmith shop after having seen a knife my brother had made. I asked him to teach me and by the second or third step I had taken over. I gave that first knife to a close friend of mine and I still use it often. Describe your style? My style is nontraditional, inspired by materials that are not typically used for things beyond their original purpose. I am excited by textures and grain and letting each piece find its final form. How is your work sustainable? My work is sustainable in the sense that I am repurposing old farm and farrier’s tools and milling wood from the living forest where I grew up. It’s fun to imagine someone cutting cooking with what once was a file used to shoe horses, when otherwise they would have never come in contact with such a tool. What tools and materials do you use? I use high carbon steel tools, all made in the US and wood native to my childhood home in the North East Kingdom of Vermont. I cut the desired shape from these tools with a torch, then grind them to the optimal thinness. I heat treat and temper the blades, attach wood handles and many, many hours later chop veggies and grate cheese. What inspires you? My inspiration comes from a need for balance in my life. I live in New York City, I occasionally act in films, knife making gives me the meditative time I need to focus all my energy on creating something very simple in theory yet quite complex in reality. I am also inspired by children and their power to create an imaginary world. I try to spend a lot of time there.

Thank you Chelsea!

To buy a copy of The Sustainable Design Book with 35% discount, you can use the code PROCTOR35 at the Laurence King checkout.

Hampson Woods

I had always thought that the best chopping boards were very simple, angular ones, but Hampson Woods have proved me wrong as I am now hooked on their distinctive handles. Chances are that you've seen the elegant curving wooden handle of a Hampson Woods chopping board in a photoshoot or shop lately. Their work is popping up all over the place, and I love that they have come up with a design that is instantly recognisable as their own, yet still very timeless and classic. Hampson Woods evolved as a pairing of woodworker, Jonty Hampson and artist and designer, Sascha Gravenstein. Together they design and create hand made, small-batch products using wood sourced from their own woodland in Cumbria. This is a rare treat, meaning they can know exactly where each product originally had its roots.

Tell us about what you do? We are small-­batch producers of wooden products for the home - serving boards, porridge spoons and hanging racks. All of our work is designed, made by hand and finished in our Hackney workshop. What materials do you use and why? We predominantly work with London Plane, a hardwood with an incredible depth of colour and variation in grain. It has been little used these past decades, and visually always keeps you guessing. As it’s not grown commercially, it is only really available when a tree comes down or has to be removed, so it's not the easiest to source. We also work with Elm, Ash, Oak and Sycamore, all also sourced from within Britain. We only acquire timber if we know its provenance; where it once stood. What is your favourite wood to work with? My current favourite is Ash. It is almost buttery in its consistency, yet so versatile and strong. Sycamore is growing on me too, it finishes like glass and has a real sheen to it. Wood is such a beautiful and giving material. ­Even years after it stood, it never seems to lose its energy. As it is worked, and especially when oiled, new shades and subtle pleasing variations in colour will appear. As it ages, its texture and character will change, ­ and whatsmore, no two pieces are ever the same. What techniques do you use? The majority of our work is sanding, from shaping right down to finish. We always work with the piece in hand, and with patience, ­taking it, bit by bit, to a comfortable and smooth form. We're ­ always ensuring a very high quality of finish. What/who inspires you to make your work? The world around us, friends, family, Henry Moore, David Nash. Rebirth of timbers that have ended their previous life ­and the simple pleasures of working by hand. Can you recommend a good book? I’m an admirer of Ruskin ­but only in small doses. For reference, The Wood Book and for fun, The Treehouse Book. Where can we buy your work? From several shops across London, and the UK and also from our website. What are your plans/ideas for the future? Collaboration with craftsmen of other materials to see­ how beautiful timbers and grains can sit alongside other naturally­ occurring, texturally­ contrasting materials. Also to take on more hands, and branch out into other parts of the home.

Thank you Jonty!

Workshop photographs by Robin Sinha.

My New Book

Last year was a busy year for me. I wrote two books, had two very young children, and I generally ran around trying to do far too much. I think I might be still recovering. The nice thing, is that the first book, The Sustainable Design Book, has just come out. Because a good amount of time passes between writing a book and it being printed and available to buy, I had sort of forgotten what I had written. So, it was a pleasant surprise when a couple of copies arrived in the post and I could flick through the pages reading. "It's quite good" I thought. Far better than I had remembered anyway! The book contains profiles and interviews with over 250 designers working in a sustainable way. I've focused on material use and good design, highlighting experimental, natural materials and also a considered use of traditional materials. I'd like to think that there is an excellent range of products in there, hopefully there is something to appeal to everyone, whether they are a design professional or simply a casual reader. I'll be featuring some of the more in-depth interviews from the book on here over the next few weeks. I hope you'll enjoy reading them.

To buy a copy of The Sustainable Design Book, please order direct from the Laurence King website and use the code PROCTOR35 to get a 35% discount.