I think we can all respond to a good piece of furniture – especially chairs.

 

At the very least a chair should make you smile.

I’m a traditionally trained upholsterer by trade and have been since way back in the mid 1980’s.

These days I make the furniture I want to make; it’s modern in construction and the fabric I design to cover my chairs tends to reflect who I am and what I love (or hate) about the world.

Actually, whatever is going on in my head will sooner or later end-up on a chair.

You could say upholstery has become my art.

Almost without exception, the projects in my Furniture gallery were found in the last chance saloon; unloved and unwanted chairs on their way to the dump.

It saddens me see how much modern, mass produced furniture ends up in landfill and with it the materials and resources that we should be re-using.

Unexceptional, uncollectable furniture still has lots of potential for re-invention and the more of the original upholstery that can be re-cycled, the sweeter the job.

My fabric designs are produced at The Glasgow School of Art on a wonderful bit of kit called a pigment printer. It’s much greener than traditional methods of printing, requiring less ink and no washing, so it doesn’t waste water. Unused fabric can be re-printed, so it’s truly re-cyclable.

Sweet.