Back to business.

A chance meeting at a shopping mall has led to an exciting new opportunity -  over the next couple of weeks, I'll be spending time with the good folks at Oeko Furniture (Oeko Furniture) developing new ranges of furniture for their upcoming trade shows around Asia. It's going to be interesting and fun, getting to see how a real furniture manufacturer operates, and hopefully I'll come away from all this having picked up a trick or two about the various do's and don't's in the business.

Some things in my new world aren't that different from the law - my first day on the job was a 9am meeting on a public holiday no less (which in case you were wondering, started 1 1/2 hours late in typical Malaysian fashion).

The first thing that hit me was the scale of things - they operate two factories in Malaysia producing different ranges under the different brands for the group, and a visit to one of the factories was certainly an eye opener and quite different from the cosiness of the Chippendale workshop. As everything is mass produced, the emphasis is on mechanization and specialization. There is a different machine for everything, from drilling to sawing to jointing and finishing - ensuring that each and every piece is identical and fits perfectly together on the assembly line.

Stocks of timber ready for production

Planing and sanding

Perfect domino-like joints with none of the hassle

That's mass production for ya

The industrial finishing area smelt comfortingly of lacquer and varnish

It's certainly a very different way of looking at furniture. In a way, I think hubby and I have quite a romanticised view of the whole thing - we want to be in this industry because we want to be craftsmen and artisans, to make beautiful things with our own hands. Earning a living doing it, rightly or wrongly, is secondary and we've been concentrating our talents on the designing and making aspects of it, rather than the business side of things. The mindset of a Chinese businessman out to make a profit, which incidentally is in the furniture field, is very different. The cost aspect looms large, a not so distant spectre constantly looking over your shoulder and affecting the way you design and think about furniture and the short time I have spent with them has highlighted my inexperience in these things. It's rather daunting and hopefully hubby and I will one day find a way to make these two worlds meet.

Desa Ukiran Kayu and Tunjang Bakawali

Malaysia is known for a tradition of woodwork & wood carving, and a trip to the Far East would not be complete without a visit to the home grown industries in my country of origin. In between the whirlwind of wedding festivities, we've managed to visit a furniture retailer, the workshop of a local designer maker, a carving school (Desa Ukiran Kayu) and the workshop of a well-known local craftsman (Tunjang Bakawali).

The grounds of the carving school were replete with examples of the craft practiced here - and they were even kind enough to let me try a hand at the fret saw! It was interesting to see the different tools used here, eg the carving chisels, and to take note of the ones which were the same. In our brief tour, we discussed the use of different local woods (meranti, merbau, balau, chengal etc) & their different properties - did you know that chengal is very seldom exported because it warps & shrinks easily if the humidity decreases? Well now you do!

Carvings along the outside of the Desa Ukiran Kayu building

The building itself is a great testiment to the craft being taught at Desa Ukiran Kayu

A selection of local carving chisels (or "pahat" in Malay)

The students hard at work at Desa Ukiran Kayu

The carving school has its very own George the cat, not unlike Chippendale

A look of intense concentration

I also loved our visit to Tunjang Bakawali. The craftsmen there were super friendly, and kindly took the time out from their busy schedules to take us around their workshop & show us their craft. Interestingly, whilst they used some modern equipment (eg routers, jig saws), they've also customized a lot of it because it's not up to the intricate standards required for their work.

Local craftsman at work

The workshop at Tunjang Bakawali

Imagine trying to rout that!

Hubby adding scale to a piece

On a more exciting note (for me anyway), the hubby and I (yes, Hubby!) have been bashing our heads together and thinking about setting up shop collaboratively once we're done with our wee jaunt. It's going to be an interesting time once we come up with a new concept - change is in the air, so watch this space (or a different iteration of it) for more news in the offing!
Ta,

Mae & John

Asian adventure.

Greetings from the Far East - its been a while since I last wrote, and I have been keeping myself busy. Now that I find myself back in the lands of my home, where the sun shines and food is plentiful and oh-so-very tasty, I'm taking the opportunity to take a look around with a different set of eyes (so to speak), the eyes of a craftsperson seeking inspiration. 

These lands are beautiful, not just because of the landscapes that make them, but also because of the people and the cultures that populate them. The mouth-watering food instantly springs to mind, but more importantly, from a designer-maker’s perspective, there is a very strong tradition of quality woodworking (particularly carving) that is unique and beautiful in its simplicity. Especially when one considers that these things are often created whilst using quite limited tools.

Take my most recent trip to Myanmar - I've come back with several new projects in mind, and a few accessories to complement them to boot. I've previously mentioned how much I love dark wood having grown up in Asia, and it really is a joy being surrounded by it again. Most of the craft pieces in Myanmar seem to be made of teak, with a bit of bamboo thrown in, and I was lucky enough to see some of these mighty giants of the forest dotted around the place (being a woodworker though, all I could see was planks of beautiful wood!). I could witter on, but I guess a picture (or two) is worth a thousand words…

The mighty teak tree with its distinctive large leaves.

Carvings in the traditional fashion, often featuring lotus flowers/leaves as a motif.

More traditional carvings.

Limestone carvings using very similar techniques.

Rattan weaves used for furniture and housing.

A clever little carved cover to hide unsightly switches and sockets.

Background: Bamboo carvings (calendar), Foreground: Wee trinkets inspiring me to build a display box to show them off!

Brass door knockers which will make superb handles for a chest or perhaps some bedside cabinets or even a side table.

Have break, have a kit kat.

Its been three weeks since the course ended and I've been spending my time as a fully fledged wood worker finishing up the commission I got at the Exhibition and the bedside cabinet project. Its been a weird transformation from student to designer maker. The Monday after term ended, it was right back into the workshop to commence work on a myriad of projects, except this time we're expected to know all the answers and fix all our problems ourselves. Scary.

Completed bedside cabinet

A peek inside

Making a second copy of Tron hasn't been easy. The good thing about making something twice is you get to avoid any mistakes from the first time around and make little improvements to the design and process, making the process a lot more efficient. Which, if you are going to do this for a living, makes up for the fact that its a lot less exciting. Sadly, things haven't gone that well on Tron 2 and its ended up taking just as long, with more problems than the first one! When making a project, you bring to bear all your skill, knowledge and experience to try and avoid as many pitfalls as you can, hopefully resulting in a beautiful finished piece. But sometimes, despite your best efforts, wood just doesn't quite behave the way it should (defying all logic and sense!). Frustrating, but perhaps this is what makes it all the more rewarding when it does come together.

Tron 2 looking exactly like...Tron 1

I also haven't forgotten about the little space invader project I was toying with pre-Exhibition. I'm pleased to say these cute hand-made wall cabinets are now all done, in collaboration with the awesome and talented John Nicolson (https://www.facebook.com/jnfurniture), and are available to purchase (enquire within).

We come in peace

Cute and useful

Close up

I've now come to the end (really) of my time here in Scotland. Its difficult to talk (and think) about going out and facing the big blue yonder, so I'm going to leave you with a parting video which shows briefly how I've spent the last 9 months. Its been incredible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC--uaCbzYg&list=UU0SutKo7TsU9zETaqxhECUQ
See you all on the other side.

Graduation.

Well it looks like we've come to an end of a busy and exciting chapter and are just about to embark on a new one. This week, we graduated, had our first exhibition and sold some pieces. It was tiring but exhilarating all in one. Especially when a total stranger (not a friend or family member!) decides to part with some cold hard cash because they like what you've made. Its a nice little validation of the time spent in the last year, especially if you're John and everything sells out.

My little space at the Exhibition

I didn't do too badly out of it myself, having managed to sell some pieces and score a commission which will keep me busy over the next couple of weeks to boot. Especially since I seemed to have spent most of my time at the Exhibition accosted by lots of nice old biddies who wanted to reminisce about their time growing up in Malaya!

So long buddies...

I'm not usually one for the soppy stuff but I've met some really lovely and interesting people over the last year, and will miss everyone when we've all packed up and left. I would certainly be remiss if I didn't shout out a big thank you to the tutors (especially Sandy) - who'd have thunk I'd get this far in a year? Not without lots of help certainly!

I think I'm going to take a wee break now whilst I work out the next phase. In the meantime, here's a spanking new website courtesy of the lovely Peter Roberts:
www.madebymae.com

Watch this space!

Tim Stead.

Last Friday we went on a visit to the late (and some say, great) Tim Stead's workshop and home. Now unless you are a woodworker, I would presume you are unlikely to have heard of him before now. I certainly had no idea who he was before this year, and he doesn't even have a wikipedia entry. Described as a wood artist and sculptor, he is famous for a signature style which involves lots of burr (mostly elm), waney edges and chunky arts & crafts style furniture. One of his more famous works is the Millenium Clock (in collaboration with Edouard Bersudsky, Annica Sandström and Jurgen Tübbecke), currently exhibited at the Royal Museum in Edinburgh. Whether you're a fan of his or not, he is certainly a man who had vision, and built his entire home in the same signature style.

The best description that I've heard to sum it all up is that he had a terrible attack of "wooditis" when he was working on it. Its not what I would subscribe to myself (it reminds me of Frankenstein meets Transylvania), but there were a couple of pieces here and there that I did like and it certainly made for an interesting visit.

Tim's living room (picture courtesy of http://www.timsteadfurniture.co.uk)

Waney-edged burr elm used as the top of a bed canopy

 Signature Tim Stead chairs

Now, seeing as to how I will be staying on in the workshop for another month, I've come to that stage in the creative process where I need to come up with a couple more designs, or at least know what I'm going to make next. I've been toying with the idea of making some space invader bedside cabinets/shelves - if anyone is interested in commissioning/sponsoring these or any other piece of furniture, please do get in touch!
Ta

Catch-up.

A signature inflection

A multitude of woods

This week is catch-up week, which means time to catch up on unfinished projects and/or start new ones  of course! There is some scrambling in the workshop as exhibition draws near and people try to finish a myriad of pieces in time for the exhibition. But the burst of good weather has also tempered the frenetic activity as we all try to make the most of the 5 days of sunshine we will have this summer.

Now in the course of the last 8 months of so, I've managed to squirrel away lots of little bits of wood under my desk - bits too pretty to throw away or rescued from the off-cuts bin. I've made a couple of wee chopping boards out of these, but there are really only so many of those that one household needs, and I've been struggling for some time to think of a good use to put them to. A while back, I toyed with making an entire piece out of off-cuts, but this got lost somewhere along the way. This week though, Sandy and Ewan very handily reminded me of the potential of these pretty pieces of wood, and since I had a spare table frame lying about, well the story just about writes itself. With the application of many clamps, some glue and lots of sanding - viola, a pretty little side table was born.

I've also decided to embark on a new project this week - building some bedside cabinets for my sister for her birthday. By the time I finish the course, I suspect her lovely house will be operating as a gallery/show room for my work!

One final update for this week - the secret project has been completed and unveiled to the intended recipient. Patrick, my first client proper, was well pleased with the end result, which makes me feel super chuffed! I am even more pleased that this piece that I have built with my own hands is going to a good home and one I get to visit from time to time too!

Tron enjoying the sunshine

Tron, the mighty robot