Adrian McCurdy

Adrian McCurdy has worked with wood since an early age. With a background in Fine Art, Adrian’s career moved first from painting to a development of unique wood-skills in furniture and more recently carved panels. From his workshop in the Scottish Borders, Adrian produces furniture using quality local timber and craft techniques both long established and contemporary, often working with storm damaged wood felled by local saw-mills.

In most cases I use wood from trees that have come to the end of their life. When a suitable log catches my eye, I've had it cut to length and delivered to my work place. Not shopping for 'planked-timber' means I can be resourceful with nail-impregnated hedge-trees or the occasional lightening struck park-tree. Storm damage is the norm as large trees become more susceptible to losing major limbs. Bigger trees offer the greater possibilities and are surprisingly less wasteful than smaller trees. Quite simply there is less wastage (unless there happens to be a hidden knot inside).

I like to treat each piece as a sculptural exercise with the permutations seemingly endless as to what to use and how it might best combine with other components. Leg shapes combined with top or seat is an obvious case. The shapes collected (over many years) set the boundary of possibilities.

Carving panels has added a further exploration for Adrian into individual qualities of wood and visual effects. It's a return to sawn-boards, picture making and the beauty of wood-grain. The complementary activity is a break from the physicality of moving weighty wood and twisted conundrums, to conventional planks, planes and sandpaper. The shaping is created...not released. The wood grain is key to both.