Cornish Woodsmith

Edition Five Feature
Interview with Dominic Pearce
Location: North Cornwall, UK
Photo Credit: ©James Ram @chetwoderam & ©Dominic Pearce

What is it that you do and how do you do it?

I’m a green woodworker, making everyday kitchen and tableware that’s designed to be beautiful and functional in equal measure. My woodenware is meant for daily use, to encourage people to slow down and appreciate the small details in life and find a bit of stillness within those ordinary moments.

I work with fresh, unseasoned beech logs and make them into spoons, bowls, jugs, cups and containers using traditional hand tools such as knives, axes and gouges. I have an old 1960s wood lathe, so I get a bit of assistance from that too. I use unseasoned wood because it’s easier to work when it’s green and, as it dries, it warps and does its own thing, which I think of as nature’s hand having its own part in the process.

Once the object has been shaped by me, that next important part of the process begins. As the wood dries and water leaves the cells, the cells begin to shrink, and they shrink at different rates depending on where they grew within the tree. This causes the bowl or other object to warp and take on a decidedly sculptural organic form, each piece developing its own unique character. While I can influence this part of the process, this is nature’s hand at work, tweaking and twisting and gently adding a little magic that I couldn’t achieve with my own hands.

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