2024 Projects and visits
Posted 30 May 2024 Ash bowls made from two 6" thick slices of ash trunk, from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's nature reserves at Askham Bog and Chafer Wood. In return the Trust bought the resulting bowls.
More examples of bowls are available in the bowls gallery pages.
Posted 31 May 2024 A small bowl with a painted brass lid, turned I think from an Australian wood called sheoak (it wasn't labelled when I found it, but it had a beautiful colour and grain). It has been simply decorated with a pyrographed band burnt into the wood.
More examples of bowls and boxes are available in the bowls and boxes gallery pages.
Posted 31 May 2024 Three grass pots (for dried flowers or grasses), made from an Australian wood, jarrah, with a deep reddish hue. The designs are burnt into the wood with a technique known as pyrography.
More examples of vases and goblets are available in the goblets and vases gallery pages.
Posted 1 June 2024 Lots more tree pictures added to the tree gallery. 10 pages of photos from a November trip to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh; the Yorkshire Arboretum collection now extends to 13 pages after a "meet the trees" day with arboretum director John Grimshaw. There are now over 500 species on the tree list, with around 2000 photos in the collection. There is more to come, from Harewood House, RHS Bridgewater, Holker Hall and Guernsey, along with a few additions to Scampston Hall and Thornton le Dale.
Posted 10 June 2024 A pet portrait for Chris in Pickering, for his 70th birthday. Mabel is Chris's labradoodle who has just reached the grand old age of fifteen. The platter is turned from sycamore, and is approximately ten inches in diameter. The image of Mabel has been burnt into the wood using pyrography, and the whole has been finished with cellulose sealer and then buffed with three coats of wax. It has a hook at the rear for hanging the plate on a wall.
Have a look at other pyrography pieces.
Posted 10 June 2024 Sophie from Club Astrazeneca requested a golf trophy for the annual Charity Challenge in Macclesfield, on behalf of the Silklife Food Bank. This is made from utile (an African hardwood) for the club head, evergreen oak for the stem and African blackwood for the handle. The plinth is English oak, 7" in diameter.
The inscriptions (including Silklife and Atrazeneca logos at the rear) were burnt into the wood using pyrography, and the trophy was finished with cellulose sealer and three coats of wax.
Have a look at more sports trophies, and trophies in general.
Posted 11 June 2024 Gracie from Little Toller Books in Dorset requested a Creative Writing Trophy for a local school, in recognition of, and to be presented by, Michael Morpurgo. The result is this cup, turned from oak, resting on a spalted ash base.
Have a look at more literacy trophies, and trophies in general.
Posted 13 July 2024 Kirsty in Whitby requested a small disc on a plinth for West Cliff Primary School in Whitby. And Alex, an Englishman in New York, requested two sauce-themed trophies for his fantasy football league over there (English and American members); he still has a taste for HP sauce.
Posted 15 July 2024 An unusual bowl, made from grass tree root, Xanthorrhoea .This is a uniquely Australian plant, which will withstand drought and bushfires, will burn the foliage and blacken the stump, but then it regrows. In fact often a bushfire will encourage flower development. The trunk is made up of masses of old leaf bases, held together with resin.
Posted 4 August 2024 A range of holding crosses in a variety of different timbers. Designed to fit in the palm of your hand, approximately 1 ½ x 2 ¾. Tactile, smooth, finished with mineral oil then beeswax.
Posted 4 August 2024 Helen requested a cup in memory of her father, to be presented at an annual flower show. The inscription in Welsh: Cwpan Clwyd, Soie Flodau, Llannefydd, translates to Clywd Cup, Llannefydd Flower Show. The cup was turned from a single piece of ash, resting on a plinth made from a separate piece of ash.
Have a look at more cups, and trophies generally.
Posted 4 August 2024. This tazza dish was for another Helen, requested as a trophy for the Colsterworth Women's Institute in memory of Dot Williams, made from oak approximately 9" x 4". A tazza is a wide but shallow bowl or saucer sitting on a stem to raise it up.
Have a look at more bowls and trophies
Posted 4 August 2024 Some items for the gardener - dibbers, pot tampers and widgers. These are all made from oak or chestnut, each unique with variation in designs. They are finished with mineral oil and beeswax.
Posted 18 August 2024 This acacia gavel and block were made for Ron, the secretary of the Metropolitan Grand Lodge of London. It is to be presented as a gift to a lodge in Romania that they are due to visit. The block was chosen to be round rather than square to allow the inscription to flow around it.
There are more masonic gift items to view.
Posted 18 August 2024 A 10" diameter oak wall clock with a quartz movement, made for Tom near Harrogate as a gift to commemorate George's baptism. The inscription reads Yesterday's the past. Tomorrow's the future, but today is a gift. That's why it's called the present..
Have a look at more wall clocks and mantel clocks.
Posted 18 August 2024 Victoria asked if we could make a needle case and awl. These are turned from yew, 2" needle case, £25 for the pair.
Have a look at more textile craft items
Posted 16 September 2024 Lucy requested a trophy for the staff treasure hunt at Malton School. We designed this 9" disc on a plinth to fit the bill. The winners teams will be pyrographed on each year - possible because it is a local school and is easy to pick up, pyrograph and return.
Have a look at other plinth trophies, and trophies generally.
Posted 16 September 2024 Two ladies' cricket trophies requested by Elinor in the Vale of Glamorgan. One is in oak, the other ash. We usually do these with a round base, and with a red ball, but the ladies don't use a red ball, and wanted a rectangular base with flat sides so they could put brass plaques on them. Have a look at other sports trophies, and trophies generally
Posted 16 September 2024 Trophies for the Leeds Mathematics School - a Tower of Hanoi, and 24 individual trophy discs. All pyrographed with instructions, and the school badge hand painted. The Tower of Hanoi is a classic puzzle, where the stah of discs must be moved from one peg to another, one at a time, never placing a larger disc on a smaller disc. This version with 6 discs would take 63 moves to complete. 7 would take 127. Have a look at more maths trophies