Gary Allson

 

 

I’ll be taking my turned wooden bowls predominantly. It will be the first time I have exhibited at origin and the scale and type of making are right I think. They are hand turned with double hemispheres and every bowl is different because you are always working around the individual flaws in each piece of wood.

 

 

I use mostly beech and oak, FSC certified and locally sourced whenever possible. Beech is a very functional, close grained timber, with a cleanable surface ideal for chopping boards. The oak has a much more open structure. After turning I burn the surface to bring out the grain and create texture, something that would never be there if the wood was just stained or dyed. The oak bowls are not functional kitchen pieces but could be fruit bowls for example.

 

 

They had really been in their infancy before then. I had done a bit of wood turning but this gave me the opportunity to really explore the process and see what I could do, what shapes I could make. I was looking for the right finishes, the right timber and discovering what shapes would sell.

 

 

Yes. I see myself more as a designer than a craftsman so, although making is very important, I really enjoy the process of sketching out new ideas through doing, using new bits of kit and making progress to an object through exploration. It’s exciting when you don’t know exactly where it’s going to take you or what it might become. The Design Fair showcase will be a good point to step back and see what we want from it and to gain exposure that will kick off new ideas. The work could end up being a table, a door, a screen, but maybe we haven’t bumped into the person who says, “Oh, it could be this!”

 

 

I’m going to continue riding the wobbly bicycle along the line between being a designer and a designer-maker. I think it’s quite fun doing that.

 

 

Origin, Somerset House, London

Week 2: 14-19 October 2008