I guess my story is probably a familiar one: comfortable, stable career turns to disillusionment and inner turmoil, resulting in a transformation and a new beginning… Hmm, maybe a tad dramatic.
I came to furniture making and wood turning via fifteen years of tree work, where I had the good fortune to work in two of the most popular public gardens in the UK – Wisley in Surrey and Edinburgh Botanics.
My love for working with trees, teaching and an ever-present drive to perfect my craft hit a few bumps in the road, leading me to question my path in life. I yearned to develop my creative aspect, or maybe discover if I even had one! I felt the inherently destructive nature of most tree work had drained me of the passion I once had – an imbalance I was at a loss to resolve.
I spent my evenings watching hours of wood working videos on Youtube – if it had ‘live edge’ or was Japanese, I’d have watched it. Admittedly, at the time most of it was over my head, but I just knew that I wanted to work with wood, and learn how to make beautiful furniture. The closest I could get were rustic benches out of slabbed timber from the gardens with joinery cut with a chainsaw!
But the seed had been planted and I now had a dream to persue.
It was while I was instructing at an agricultural college in Hampshire that I was gifted the opportunity to change my life. My grandmother passed away and I was fortunate enough to be left with an inheritance that allowed me to quit my job and attend a year long course at the Chippendale International School of Furniture. I was finally able to put all those hours of YouTube videos to the test… and quickly realised it was harder than it looked!
I now have my own workshop, a thirty second commute to work, the sound of bird song and lambs baa-ing and the content feeling that I’m achieving my dream.
Matthew Hanley Woodworker 