Centrespace gallery, Bristol
TBD 2025
Connections through Wood is an exhibition of eight Bristol based woodworkers, showing what is possible when an artistic eye meets traditional skills. They have been exploring the importance of connections created when objects are made by hand. From material sourcing, through the making process, and into their intended use, connections are all around. This exhibition invites visitors to reflect on those connections and what they mean to them. There will be a short film interviewing each maker which will be shown during the event, and also live demonstrations by some of the makers.
The exhibition will open on Friday 22nd November and run until Wednesday 27th November.
Centrespace Gallery
Leonard Lane
Bristol
BS1 1EA
More info about directions here.
The exhibition has been kindly sponsored by the Association of Pole-lathe Turners and Green Woodworkers. Follow along on instagram for all the latest news about the event.
We’re delighted with the list of exceptional makers we will have exhibiting. There is a curated mix of experiences, ages and skills on show, ensuring something for everyone. More details here.
Getting There
By Car – NCP Bristol Rupert Street is the nearest and easiest to access, then a 5 minute walk.
By Bike – Lots of bike racks by the Quay Street Diner, then a 2 minute walk.
By Train – A 20 minute walk from Bristol Temple Meads.
By Bus – Any bus to the centre will work.
Makers
Flo Hamer
Flo is a traditional craftswoman specialising in basketry and green woodworking. She loves working with natural materials and using traditional techniques to create functional long lasting pieces.
Flo teaches a range of courses in traditional crafts, as well as being a full time maker. Having been an attendee on the Wood, Water, Weave course in 2023, she is now delighted to be bring those splint basketry skills to a wider audience.
Winner of best Contemporary Basket 2023 in the ‘Basketry of the Year’ competition held by the Basketmakers Association. Flo also had an Ash Basket shortlisted in the ‘Bespoke Product Design’ category in the 2023 ‘Wood Awards’.
HARRY MORRIS
Harry started woodworking at the age of 13 in his dad’s garage, carving spoons and watching instructional videos on YouTube. After travels to Japan and Australia researching and working with wood he acheived a degree w/ distinction in furniture making from Westdean College.
He currently splits his time between making quirky windsor chairs (including teaching at Westonbirt Arboretum), antique furniture restoration and a food growing project called Got Greens.
Winner of the 2023 Heritage Crafts / Axminster Tools Young Woodworker of the Year Award
JACK LAbANOWSKI
Jack’s work focuses on our eternal connections to nature and an awareness of our heritage whenever he makes something. People have been using these same hand crafting skills for millennia and he loves that sense of history and continuity .
For over 10 years, Jack has been bringing beautiful but practical wooden products into people’s homes – items which can be used everyday, and look better the more you use them and will last for years.
SUE DARLISON
Sue has been a furniture designer/maker and artist for over twenty
years but her creativity began in early childhood once she discovered
crayons and Plasticine!
She began her creative journey working as a graphic
designer/illustrator in the advertising industry. Along the way and
almost by happy accident Sue discovered a passion for working with
wood and knew instantly that working with such a beautiful ‘living’
materials was the way forward.
After enrolling on a woodworking evening class with her dad the next
step was to sign up for a four year fine furniture and cabinetmaking
course at the City of Bristol College. Since those days she has worked
on numerous commissions for private clients and public space pieces.
Over the years her work has been exhibited widely, winning a number
of awards along the way.
All of Sue’s work is designed and made with a care and sensitivity for
the environment from her workshop based in Bristol.
‘Timeless contemporary pieces for home work and public spaces’
I work to commission, anything is possible!
JACK RITSON
Jack creates unusual and exciting bespoke oak products, crafted using traditional methods and tools. Jack specialises in cleft oak which involves splitting or riving the wood apart instead of more conventional sawing.
All wood used is gathered from the well-managed woodland in Westonbirt Arboretum, where Jack works. The ongoing hazel coppice restoration there means that a number of oak trees are being felled, to allow light and space for the hazel understory to thrive.
ALISTAIR PARK
For over 30 years Alistair has been making sculptures ranging in size from tiny pendants, to large pieces that I can’t move on my own, some weighing well over half a ton! Over this time he has developed into one of the finest wood carvers in the country. The objects he makes reflect his interest in craft skills and he is fascinated by the stories associated with objects made by hand; whether they come from collecting the raw materials, forming the object itself, or its existence after it leaves the maker and goes out into the world. By using thoughtfully sourced wood each piece comes with its own unique story.
GEOFF HANNIS
Geoff has always been fascinated with working wood, however it wasn’t until 2018 that he discovered the joy of working green wood through the Cherry Wood Project and the Somerset Bodgers at Tyntesfield House. Having learnt from some of the best craftspeople in the country, he makes unique wood-turned creations in his workshop at Grow Wilder. He recently benefited in being named the QEST Turners’ Company Emerging Maker, learning how to make stop-turned vessels, a technique unique to the pole lathe.
RUFIN HaMBROOK-ROSE
Rufin is a young local woodturner who creates beautiful bowls and vases on his lathe. Since the age of 12 he has been honing his craft, working with the properties of wood to create elegant organic forms. They are finished with sloyd knives and gouges to create tactile surfaces inspired by shapes and patterns found in nature. The pieces are a functional addition to any kitchen, or can be used decoratively to light up any room
