I am a carpenter from Amberley, New Zealand. As the son of a carpenter, I have been lucky to learn the joy of working with my hands from a young age. This was a gift I am grateful for as not all have this opportunity.
Looking back, my philosophy as a maker started early on when I went to work with my dad and would salvage native timber framing that was surplus to house alterations. I always saw a value and appreciated the history of this timber. In the words of George Nakashima, I look to ‘give the trees a second life’ – well in this case, a third.
My philosophy is not from the spiritual sense of George Nakashima, it is driven by the need to sequester carbon. Trees are the lungs of the earth – by producing oxygen, they also capture carbon. Utilising end-of-life timber will continue to capture the carbon contained within the heartwood until that wood decays or is burned.
My passion is in craftsmanship, but central to the evolution of my
