Spider table in walnut & glass

I completed a short course with Marc with a specific aim of defining how to turn a long standing idea into reality. However what I came away with was much more than I ever expected.

This is partly due to Marc’s philosophy and the fact that the teaching room is part of a busy working design/woodwork studio – design is in the air all around you.

It wasn’t just the hard aspects of woodwork technique and his exacting standards, but the soft elements of design: influences, materials, textures and finishes. I soon realised that I had taken a conventional linear design/make approach: settle on a design, select the wood, make and finish it. I wasn’t expecting my design approach to be challenged, not because it was wrong but had I considered alternatives? I saw all sorts of other materials being used, even a fish skin. I realised that I don’t have to make everything just in wood.

My outcome? The course confirmed that I was happy with the overall design, but I changed the way to make it. More importantly I included some other design/finish elements to raise the overall design and visual impact. The course changed my design direction and improved my workmanship. The table now exists and indeed graces the homes of a number of friends.

Nigel Rose