News

Following 30 weeks studying on the Professional Course, Chippendale International School of Furniture’s annual exhibition gives graduating students the opportunity to show and sell the pieces they’ve made during that time.
Despite a challenging year, each student persevered and produced some incredibly creative and unique designs. Read on for a round-up of furniture highlights and find out what they have planned for life beyond the school doors. 

Tom Powell – UK 2020 ‘Student of the Year’ was awarded to Tom Powell for the exceptional furniture he designed  and made. Tom’s pieces demonstrated a high level of technical ability, are beautifully simple as well as being utterly functional. He had a clear idea of what his signature style was from very early on in the course and that stood out when admiring his exhibition stand

Final designs 

• ‘Braid Side Tables’ – oak with sycamore & walnut parquetry
• ‘Longship Bench’ – spalted sycamore & wych elm
• ‘Dovetail Coffee Table’ – oak & fumed oak
• ‘Dovetail Bookshelves’ – white/olive ash
• ‘Wedges Shelving System’ – oak & red gum
• ‘Yakisugi Bird Table’ – red cedar
• ‘Wonky Stool’ – oak

Favourite part of the Professional Course: Steam-bending with Michael Fortune

Plans after graduation: To set up a business taking commissions as Moidart Woodwork in Myreside Studios

Darren Phillips – UK

Final designs 

• ‘Market Garden’ cabinet – made from solid sapele, this commemorative cabinet remembers the Allied Forces’ courageous  effort to end World War II. The cabinet features hand-cut  marquetry displaying Pegasus (British Airborne insignia) & a map  detailing  the route to Arnhem
• ‘The Tiger and the Dove’ – a kitchen dresser made from solid Scottish oak

Favourite part of the Professional Course: Sharing the workshop with dedicated staff and inspirational students, the group lessons were particularly fun. I also really enjoyed the design meetings where you have the challenge of presenting your idea to a group and seeing everyone else’s exciting designs and creativity

Plans after graduation: I will be setting up my business in Surrey focusing on reestanding furniture. Offering a unique and exciting product range and providing bespoke commissions tailor-made for our clients, all will be designed and made in the UK

Alice Caundle – UK

Final designs 

• ‘Wedge Tables’ – coffee tables made from sycamore with a tambour slide
• ‘Mantis Chair’ – a chair partly inspired by the praying mantis, & the desire to create a ‘true’ Z-shaped chair. It features a bent plywood seat, with north American cherry veneer, bent lamination legs & arms – all made from Scottish cherry

Favourite part of the Professional Course: Meeting really cool people and learning how to design furniture in CAD, using Fusion 360

Plans after graduation: I want to be a furniture designer, and I want to enter my ‘Mantis Chair’ into the A’ Design Award competition, with the hopes of putting it into production. I will start out by renting bench space in the school’s incubation workshops at Myreside Studios

James Bullen – UK

‘Students’ Choice’ winner, as voted for by fellow students

Final designs 

• ‘The Surfer’ console table – contemporary, walnut-veneered console table with solid walnut accents
• ‘Poplar in Hackney’ – bedside cabinets in poplar & elm
• ‘Compass Rosé’ – wine cabinet in oak 

Favourite part of the Professional Course: I have loved every minute – I couldn’t say a favourite thing as there are just too many!

Plans after graduation: I plan to work on a few commissions I have managed to get, then work on our visa application so that we may return to Canada and start a smaller version of the School concept

Alastair Smith – UK

Final designs 

• ‘Superlifter’ coffee table in solid ash – a coffee table in the form of a ‘super ellipse’ (as popularised by the Danish polymath Piet Hein), with a top that lifts to a full table height – ideal for elegant TV dinners
• ‘North Star’ revolving library table – solid oak, oak veneer & inlaid star design – revolving bookcases were first documented in 6th century China, but this version is inspired by the classic 19th century form
• ‘Untitled’ card table – solid cherry & mahogany veneer

Favourite part of the Professional Course: Making things! And the company of fellow students and tutors. What a fine bunch of people!

Plans after graduation: Self-employment as a maker of custom furniture, under the banner of Smith and Lawless. (Why the name? I’m Smith; I used to be a lawyer; I can be excessively literal.) To begin with, I will rent a bench at Myreside Studios

Samuel R Brilz  – USA

Final designs 

• ‘Vaulted Wing Desk’ – sycamore & elm
• ‘Harvest Moon Table’ – sycamore & yew
• ‘Gothic Sunset Chair’ – sycamore & yew

Favourite part of the Professional Course: Visiting historical collections (pre-lockdown) and collaborating with students from all walks of life

Plans after graduation: The plan is to return to Idaho and start setting up shop. My goal is to be up and running by early 2021. As for projects, my focus will be on building pieces to enter into local shows and events while waiting for commissions. This should allow me to keep refining and experimenting with my designs in a productive way

Rob Goodburn – UK

Final designs 

• ‘Les Jumelles’ console table – pai, sycamore & elm – not identical but twins like sycamore seeds spinning to the forest floor. This is a duet of light & solid wood with the ability to interact or stand as individual elements, while providing a background of warm light
• ‘Fonction Habitude’ Ladder X – sycamore & olive ash – modular work and storage place for a home office. This is a flexible modular crafted system that you can take with you & adapt throughout your life. The supports are also uplighters
• ‘The Kneeling Maiden’ – laminated elm 
• ‘Locking up Carbon’ – storage boxes made using reclaimed timber

Favourite part of the Professional Course: Working alongside everyone else on the course and with the tutors; the satisfaction of getting a good finish on a beautiful piece of timber, and very early morning dog walks around East Lothian

Plans after graduation: Lockdown workshop will be home. During the period the school was closed for COVID, our double garage was transformed and will become home for the next few months. I’d like to, and have started investigating, setting up a shared workshop in Edinburgh

Sam Alton – UK

Final designs 

• ‘Planetary Desk’ – oak planetary gear writing desk with brass stretcher
• ‘Learning Curve’ – jewellery box in ash
• ‘Just in Time’ – ash hourglass-shaped bedside table with recycled & recyclable plastic
• ‘Nox Reclaimed’ – oak-based lamp

Favourite part of the Professional Course: Meeting fellow students and learning new skills together

Plans after graduation: To start a bespoke woodworking business in Harrogate, North Yorkshire

Hugh Ainsworth – UK

Final designs 

• Drinks cabinet – wych elm
• Cheval mirror – oak
• Piano console & seat – sapele
• Coffee/games table – cherry wood with a checkerboard glass inlay gilded with 24 carat gold 
• Occasional table – glass inlay with white gold

Favourite part of the Professional Course: The most enjoyable part of the course has been designing and making furniture

Plans after graduation: I’m looking for a workshop to rent in order to make furniture to commission

Stewart Musk – UK

Winner of the 2020 ‘Public’s Choice’ award, as voted for by exhibition visitors

Final designs 

• Desk – olive ash
• Music stand – wych elm
• Piano stool – oak & burr elm

In all three pieces I set out to display the natural beauty of these native hardwoods and aimed to produce furniture with organic curves and a tactile as well as visual appeal

Favourite part of the Professional Course: Having the opportunity to focus on learning new skills in an inspiring and supportive environment – and having the chance to work with some truly gorgeous native hardwoods

Plans after graduation: I’ll continue to work at the school in one of the ‘incubation’ areas, working on expanding the range of furniture I make, as well as developing my existing designs. I am happy to accept commissions

Constance Graesslin de Mare – France

Final designs 

• ‘Dovetail Chair’ – handmade in oak and inspired by conceptual art, the Bauhaus and Gerrit Rietveld. A very simple shape that displays the features of the wood & joinery. The strength of the dovetail joints   combined with the mitres allows this piece to ‘float’, as if defying gravity
• Shelves mounted on a table – oak: the asymmetrical displaying of the  shelves gives the piece a sculptural aspect. The choice of combining two  different pieces of furniture is inspired by the current movement of the tiny houses, & the idea of having less living space, less possessions, but perhaps more practicality
• Cabinet on legs for a city apartment – oak, fumed oak & elm
• Tool chest for a 1950s Chevrolet truck

Favourite part of the Professional Course: The small number of students combined with the dedication and availability of the tutors allowed us to always be able to work on what we chose to, with support when needed. It was great to be able to have access to the beautiful timber that grows in Scotland, too

Plans after graduation: Working with somebody else to keep learning and earning money and to open my own shop as soon as possible

Trimaine Bothma – South Africa

Final designs 

• ‘Vaggie’ – high back upholstered chair in sycamore
• 'Crow’s Nest Coat Rack’ – sycamore
• ‘Doll’s House Playset’ – lime

Favourite part of the Professional Course: Woodcarving and gilding, getting to know everyone on the course so well and the tutor support

Plans after graduation: To try to find someone to work for in order to skill up in another workshop

Richard England – UK

Winner of the 2020 ‘Marketing’ award, which recognised the excellence of his marketing plan & materials

Final designs 

• ‘Pointe’ – console table in olive ash
• ‘Winzer’ – low-back chair in solid oak, upholstered in Harris tweed
• ‘The Glencairn’ – whisky cabinet in American burr walnut veneer & gilded in 24 carat gold
• ‘Selette’ – pedestal table in olive ash

Favourite part of the Professional Course: If I had to choose only one, it would be the Windsor chairmaking week, closely followed by the gilding fortnight

Plans after graduation: I will launch and grow Glencairn Furniture, my own business designing and making exquisite handcrafted furniture: www.glencairnfurniture.co.uk

Rebecca Elliot – UK

Final designs 

• ‘Bottle Box’ – wych elm
• ‘Rowan Leaf Triptych’ – water gilded in white gold on glass
• Dressing Table’ – walnut
• 'Eider’s Bench’ – oak

Favourite part of the Professional Course: Wood-forming techniques with Michael Fortune, gilding and Graham’s support

Plans after graduation: I will be renting a bench in Myreside Studios where I will set up a bed making business called Studio Eider

Manuel Kalo – Germany 

Final designs 

• Table – tabletop with two different 3D illusions, depending on the point of view
• Extension table – beech 
• Two-legged stool 
• Twisted box – walnut

Favourite part of the Professional Course: Woodturning

Plans after graduation: Take orders from customers I like, building objects I love

Jason Hicks – Australia

Final designs 

I have three major pieces on display that show a wide variety of creativity, design and skills, with special emphasis on how texture and shape interact with the natural beauty of wood:

• ‘Ripple’ cabinet – solid ash & copper accents, inspired by the patterns in sand at low tide & designed to entice people to want to reach out and touch the surface
• ‘Kirra’ coffee table – rippled walnut veneer with an ebonised sycamore base
• ‘Ori’ bench – solid oak & Australian red gum accents, influenced by the simple elegant lines found in Japanese furniture. The ‘Ori’ bench is given a modern twist by substituting traditional seating materials for a complementary orange Paracord

Favourite part of the Professional Course: One of the most rewarding aspects has been gaining a broad skill level in the different aspects of furniture building. More importantly, however, is the fact that I now have the confidence and belief that I can design and build almost any piece of furniture I can think of. Also, it has been a privilege to experience this amazing adventure with a great group of like-minded people 
from such diverse backgrounds and nationalities

Plans after graduation: After falling for the beauty and diversity of Scotland, I’ve decided to relocate here permanently. The plan is to open my company – Yarrawood Furniture – which will be dedicated to creating bespoke furniture of exceptional quality for discerning clients

David Marshall – UK

Final designs 

• Isolation Station (Crafting Box) – oak
• Metamorphic cabinet – transforms into a table

Favourite part of the Professional Course: I can’t pick only one thing; the whole course has been great. I’ve enjoyed every day

Plans after graduation: Continuing with a year at Myreside Studios

Bret Johnston – America

Final designs 

• ‘Stacked Coffee Table’ – fumed oak
• ‘The Melting Desk’ – a contemporary executive desk made to look like the veneer is melting down the apron and legs, inspired by Salvador Dali paintings

Favourite part of the Professional Course: My favourite part of the course has been learning CAD and being able to confidently design my own furniture. Before starting the course, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to come up with my own ideas, but after learning the basics of Fusion 360, I was able to try out new ideas, which end up in a decent rendering

Plans after graduation: After graduation, I am going to start my own business called Johnston Furniture. We will be making custom furniture as well as teaching bowl turning classes. Johnston Furniture will be located in Washington, USA:

Email: [email protected]
Website: www.johnstonfurniture.com 
Instagram: @johnstonfurniture
Facebook: www.facebook.com/johnstonfurniture

Francisca Bullinger  – Germany/UK

Winner of the 2020 ‘Best Design’ award for her ‘Forest Cabinet’

Final designs 

• Modern coffee table – with carved water ripples on the surface, which symbolise rain drops
• ‘Forest Cabinet’ – featuring a big mural that acts like a window into nature, wherever you live
• Mirror made out of clouds

Favourite part of the Professional Course: The gilding weeks with Richard Walker, as well as steam-bending and other ways of manipulating timbers with Michael Fortune

Plans after graduation: Setting up my own business at Myreside Studios

Fraser Harley – UK

Final designs 

• ‘Full Circle’ – coffee table made from olive ash
• ‘Day Bed’ – oak

Favourite part of the Professional Course: Steam-bending with Michael Fortune

Plans after graduation: Moving into Myreside Studios to set up a furniture design and making business

To find out more about the Chippendale School’s intensive 30-week Professional Course, click here 

All Chippendale School graduates become members of the Fine Furniture Guild on graduation.