Blackhorse Workshop

How do you explain Blackhorse Workshop in a single image? This is how! We love this new illustration by Joe Prytherch (www.joeprytherch.com) which has been created for the upcoming exhibition in Vienna at the Architekturzentrum all about Assemble. So if you happen to be over there, or feel like an excuse for a trip its running from 1st June -11 September. It’s a drawing you could spend hours looking at, which we probably will…Below are some extracts showing our bench space and machine room, not to mention the new café! Posters will be available to buy in Vienna, and we’re hoping for a re-print…watch this space!

Furniture and Lighting Designer Marc Wood’s first memory of making was perhaps one of the first memories he has.

“At the age of four, I would go into my Grandad’s workshop at the end of the garden and we would carve miniature boats and other toys out of blocks of wood. I used to watch him make small items if furniture for his house. He was very passionate about furniture restoration.”

Those early experiences sparked off a lifetime love of building things: treehouses, skateboard ramps, rudimentary bits of furniture and anything I else could think of and ultimately in him wanting to pursue a career in it.

While completing his studies in Furniture and Product Design at Nottingham Trent University, Marc really began to hone his craft, creating two pieces for his final degree show that he is the most proud of to date. His aim was to create two very different products, a simple lighting collection designed for mid-market, volume production and a console table to be a statement art piece for the top end of the market.

“Visually the console table is the most interesting. I designed it using state of the art computer software which uses algorithms to create interesting forms, and made it using steam bent wood, an ancient production process. The combination created a piece which juxtaposes traditional and modern to create something pretty unique.”

Since then Marc has focused more on lighting design and has gone on to make some beautiful pieces like the copper leaf sculpture above which was commissioned by an interior designer and now sits in the foyer of a 5 star hotel in Wales. This piece was inspired by nature and jewellery, in particular copper annealing, which is a hand metal-forging process that has been used by jewellers for centuries.  Marc takes inspiration from jewellery in his lighting designs, saying he believes that “lighting features are pieces of furniture for jewellery for the home”.

Because of the combination of the design process and the making process involved in lighting design, Marc spends half his time upstairs in his studio designing and half his time downstairs in the Workshop making, allowing him to facilitate his flexible working style.

“There are so many people here doing so many interesting things. It enables us all to be exposed to new ideas and different processes and creates a great energy. I love how well the space is managed. The technicians and office staff are always on hand and keep the place moving very smoothly. I seem to get no end of advice from the staff who are very knowledgeable and always happy to help.”

Looking ahead, Marc has several projects on the go, with the main one being his debut lighting collection which he will be launching in the summer.

“I have a few more lights which I need to develop and prototype to complete the collection, as well as several bespoke commissions. It’s going to be a busy year.”

To see more from Marc, check out his profile on our Members Directory.  We’ll also be running a steam bending course at the workshop in July. Dates to be announced shortly.

When qualified Joiner Lindsay Draws agreed to make furniture for a friend who was moving into their first unfurnished flat, the bed ended up being the most exciting prospect. Since qualifying from the Stratford Building & Crafts College in May last year, Lindsay has made an assortment of furniture, but this was her first bed project and it’s a beautiful one at that. The wood of the frame  is made from solid beech sourced from fellow member Bruce Saunders’ wood seasoning business: Saunder’s Seasonings. The headboard and footboard have decorative mild steel bars and Lindsay made the slats herself from poplar, held together with cotton webbing.

Having just two days a week to work on it, the whole project took 4-5 months from start to finish to complete.  This included designing the bed and working with her friend to make it exactly how she wanted it.  Just like any project, during those months, this project wasn’t short of colliding with a few hurdles, but each hurdle seemed to help graft the direction of the finial design.

“There were lots of obstacles along the way, like buying bed bolts that were longer than any drill bit I could find! This was my first major project since qualifying as a joiner so there was always going to be a steep learning curve but at least one of the mistakes I made led to better design. The sides of the headboard and footboard were originally intended to be straight and quite narrow. After messing up the cut on one of them (always mark your waste wood clearly!), I realised that they would look much better if they were cut to follow the angle of the metal instead and I’m really pleased with how that looks.”

One of the main positives in this for Lindsay was the use of the actual beech itself.  This was her first project working with hardwood, beech in particular, because in all those months working on it, she never got tired of looking at the beautiful grain pattern.

Lindsay is currently in the process of setting up a working partnership with Christina French, another joiner at the Workshop, At present she is working on doors, small pieces of furniture and pots, but is keen to make another bed in the future having ironed out some of the basics of bed construction, particularly making this same design with wood instead of metal in the headboard, which we can’t wait to see when she does.

Thanks to everyone who came down on Friday night to celebrate the launch of our new building & building. Was a great party. Kicking off with the exploding birthday cake, thanks to Cllr Clare Coghill for her work snipping the ribbon! Super set from bands Firestations & Half Penny Pass, great food from Peter’s Jerk Chicken & hot dawgs from Wood St Coffee, not to mention the absolutely delicious birthday cake from Crumbs.  Can birthdays happen more than once a year? See you all soon…

Photos (c) Simon Way

To celebrate the opening of the Dagenham White House, childhood home of British fashion designer and tailor Hardy Amies, we were asked to run a workshop to build a wooden chest to be housed in the new centre, with carved panels inspired by his work and made by those involved with the project. Made over the course of two days, participants individually carved panels relating to the work of the designer.

Known for making dresses for the Queen to costumes for 2001: Space Odyssey, Hardy Amies became known as a world famous couturier and dressmaker.

The exhibition about his work runs until Saturday 25th Feb. And the space will continue as a public space for art and community activity. For more information, click here.

After studying Illustration and working as a freelance Illustrator for a couple of years, new member Tim Summers began working for artists and fabricating work for them, which he has now been doing for 10 years. It was during this time that he realised that he loved making things and he wanted to spend more of his time doing this.

Once graduating from the CASS Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture with a BA in Furniture and Products, Summers proceeded to make various pieces, the one piece that stood out among the rest was his Flip Desk. ‘I designed and made it a couple of years ago but it won the Heal’s Discovers 2016 competition last year.  Heal’s are now producing it and its for sale in their Tottenham Court Road store and online. The brief was to design a piece of furniture that fitted into their Ambrose range, so I used my own experience of compact London living and developed a semi-permanent desk for multi-functional spaces that could be folded away quickly and easily. The process involved developing multiple prototypes and honing each one until I had the right balance of functionality and form.‘

He joined Blackhorse after looking for somewhere with a strong community and a good workshop. “Blackhorse is affordable, convenient and has provided a place that I can come to everyday and think, make, experiment, and sometimes even make money. It is the perfect platform at this stage to enable me to work on whatever projects I need to. It’s great to be surrounded by such a busy and enthusiastic community of fellow makers. The café also serves great coffee so it ticks all the boxes!”

Tim has currently started working on a commission for a Library in Hampstead and along with 8 months of business mentoring with the Crafts Council under their Hothouse scheme.

If you want to hear more about his work, projects and success with Kickstarer, Tim will be discussing his work at this week’s Show & Tell event on Thurs 2^nd Feb from 6pm alongside Wilson Palmer Furniture. All welcome.

It’s good to be back. Resolutions are kicking into action as the workshop begins to fill again, with new designs and projects all underway.

Business as usual for some of our members: reclaimed furniture maker Fay Sebel from La Maison de Furniture is back working on her seemingly never ending production line of beautiful reclaimed wood furniture, student Tianyi Shi works on her latest university project, and weekend regular Carolus Reinecke is building an oak display cabinet for his home.

If you’ve got something in mind you’ve been hankering to get started with, sign up to one of our inductions on the membership page of our website.Viva La New Year Resolution!

Thanks to everyone who came down for a mulled wine, and to twist a wreath at our Christmas Market last week. We wish you all a very Happy Christmas, and look forward to a new year of making ahead! We’ll be closed from Christmas Eve, re-opening on the 3rd January, so look forward to seeing you all then.