I've recently completed a set of pendant lampshades, turned from a variety of woods. Commissioned by Kent & London, they feature a distinctive angular design, with thin walls and crisp edges.

I've finally made progress with my stack of elm and sorted through a few of the logs. It's been a long time since I've had timber this good, so thought I'd share the photo's.

I've at last been able to sort through the elm, which was collected over a month ago! I reckon I'm going to be quite busy over the next few weeks and buried in a lot of shavings!

I've been on the lookout for burr elm of late, but my search has now come to an end! Whilst visiting a sawmill in Northumberland, I discovered a huge pile of tree trunks, which had been standing for many years.

This week, I've been busy making salt and pepper mills and have used a variety of woods.

It's been another busy month, with plenty of interesting projects on the go. One example is this sculptured sphere, made from birch ply. It's not something I've done before, so proved a real challenge at times!

I've been working on a few orders of late - some of which will be heading quite far away.

I've recently been contacted by the Graphpaper gallery in Japan, who whish to stock a range of my natural edge pieces. I've just completed the first selection of bowls for them to see.

Back in 2014, I was offered a giant burr sycamore trunk, which had been felled by a local tree surgeon. Over the last two years I've been slowly working my way through this amazing wood, with the largest piece now ready to finish.

Here's some photo's of my latest rough turning session. I like to process all my timber during the winter months, so there is little risk of cracking.

Back in October, I cut down a large ash tree as part of some local thinning work. Since then, I've been gradually processing the timber and now have a good selection of bowl blanks.

I just thought I'd round off this year with some photo's of my current stack of green yew - I'll be processing this lot in the New Year, so more images will be appearing soon.

Based on the Gundestrup Cauldron, this bowl is my latest commissioned piece and features some fantastic detailing by local woodcarver, Richard Kennedy.

I've just removed these blanks from the drying kiln, as they are now ready to be completed. Turned from a burr sycamore tree I retrieved in 2013, they're certainly impressive and feature some gorgeous swirly patterns.

Over the past few weeks, I've been putting aside lots of interesting timber, ready for my salt and pepper mills. I've just introduced a new version in yew, but there'll soon be spalted beech and walnut as an option.

I've been helping thin out a local woodland, which has become far too overgrown. Quite a few of the trees are tangled together, including this larger ash. In fact this particular one had to be felled, since it was smothering a smaller elm.

My open studio starts this weekend, so do call in if you are passing by. I've got a whole range of projects on the go, making it the perfect opportunity to see me in action!

Here's some photo's an exhibition I'm taking part in at the moment. Set within the magnificent Dacre Hall at Lanercost Priory, the ancient walls and rustic beams look superb as a backdrop to the display.

Here's a few photo's of some gorgeous yew I've recently collected. Having just finished a couple of large projects, I'm now back to the rough turning - summer holidays will have to wait!

As you can probably guess, I've been incredibly busy at the moment - much to the detriment of my blog! However, I've enclosed a sneak preview of some pieces I'm making for the opening of Soho farmhouse in Oxfordshire.