Creative sensitivity

These two words sum up Phil and Jenny’s feel for the wood they work with. 

“From my school days, I have loved working with wood,” explains Phil. “When I was introduced to the lathe in the woodworking workshop, I was captivated. To see a bowl emerge from a solid piece of wood was intriguing.

“Watching an art-form take shape under the skilful hands of the wood turner was like the universe revealing secrets to me. It was a beautiful, mysterious thing. What was hidden is revealed.”

Having learnt the art of wood turning and carving from craftsmen of old, Phil then took up a carpentry apprenticeship when he left school and has been working in wood ever since. Phil worked out early on that it would be difficult to raise a family by spinning out fruit bowls, so he developed his building business.

The freedom of family now grown up creates opportunity to return to woodturning. Phil has renewed his early passion, enhanced by the arrival of a new lathe. 

“It is a dream machine,” Phil says, “even by today’s standards, let alone what I started with. What I can make on this is only limited by my imagination!”

Phil and Jenny have developed the Remembrance Urn to provide a tangible art piece which offers comfort in a time of sadness and loss.