Andy James
by Brenda Ross
Not only did Andy James win a Highly Commended in the Newcomer's Award (sponsored by Craftsman Magazine) at this year's British Craft Trade Fair, but the trade visitors to the show were equally enthusiastic about his work and showed such interest that Andy, from near Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, gave up his job at the end of April and became a full time woodturner.
'We didn't realise it was going to be the start of the business,' he says. 'I wasn't even sure that going to the show was the right thing to do. It was just nice to get through the vetting and be accepted.'
Having been a joiner for 22 years, 'woodturning was something I had always wanted to do,' he says. 'My father had an old lathe and when he bought a new one I bought his old one.' That was in April 2002, and just two years later the orders and follow-up enquiries from bctf led to 13 galleries wanting 5-10 pieces each. With that quantity of work he took the step of making it a full-time business.
Like many others, Andy started his woodturning making bowls and fruit.
He spent every spare moment in his workshop at the bottom of the garden, making and experimenting. He bought another lathe, and acquired many chisels and gadgets of the trade. 'Previously I had thought of logs as something to put on the fire. But once I started woodturning, when I picked up a log I thought of what I could make with it. It was curiosity really. I wondered what the possibilities were.'
Having made many presents and filled the home with his work, he (and his tolerant wife, Beasy) thought the time had come to start selling some of it, and for him to learn more about the craft. The latter happened through a work colleague of his wife, who lived near internationally known woodturner Chris Stott. Andy contacted him and ever since has been meeting him, with another woodturner, once a week. 'He shows us how to do things and teaches us the finer points,' says Andy. 'And it is a friendship as much as anything. I owe him a lot.'
Selling Andy's work began through the same work colleague of his wife, who was involved in organising a village hall event and asked him to take a stall. Regardless of the sales, he found it encouraging because of people's reaction. 'When I gave my work to family and they were complimentary, I thought they were bound to be pleased with what I did. It was nice to hear that other people liked my work too. It encouraged me to try more.'
After a few other small local events, he exhibited at his first large public event this year, at Belvoir Castle ? although sales were disappointing for him as for others there. But the results at bctf showed that his work is appreciated, and at the time of writing he was hoping for better sales from the public at the show at Chatsworth, Derbyshire, in early September.
His well-presented stand at bctf reflected his approach to selling his work: 'You have to have things that will stand out and catch the eye.' He certainly creates those, showing a natural feel for combining shape and decoration to complement each other beautifully. 'Some people think only of function and not form,' he says. 'If the form is not right, no matter what decoration you put on it, it will not look right. I am constantly developing my work. I have a sketchbook and every idea goes in there. I might not make them all or I might develop them differently, but they are there to look back to. I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes with an idea, and I write it down so I don't forget it.'
His wife also plays a large part. Her job as a health screening nurse takes her away all week, but she still finds time to do the paperwork and management of the business, as well as help with some of the decoration on the work, accompany Andy to shows and keep up the momentum of ideas for the business and the products. 'She is the driving force,' says Andy. 'We are in it together. I do the actual woodwork but she has lots of ideas, including design ideas.' They would like to work together one day and have their own gallery, with his workshop and a café alongside.
For the moment he is intent on selling to more galleries and developing his work. He has experimented with various techniques, including carving, piercing, crackle glaze, and metal leaf used in the bottom of bowls or round the inside of natural holes, to accentuate the markings of the wood. He constantly develops new designs, and finds other people's work inspiring.
'I wouldn't copy,' he says. 'That is not right. But, for example, I saw a piece someone had made that looked like a piece of paper folded. I liked the idea so from it
I developed my own version of "pleating" ? a bowl that is smooth on the inside but with the outside carved to resemble separate overlapping pieces.'
He buys his wood from suppliers in his area. At first he bought shapes ready for turning but has since acquired a bandsaw so he can buy the wood and shape it himself. A nearby farmer he has known since childhood lets him store wood at the farm, and the shed at the bottom of the garden that is Andy's well-ordered workshop also has room for some. It all has to dry out so that when the finished item is in people's homes, the moisture content will not change and distort the piece. Some bowls he rough turns, leaving them an inch thicker than the finished item, and then stores them for a year to dry out.
Andy will be exhibiting at the annual event at Gainsborough Old Hall on 27 November, and it was here last year that his mother-in-law noticed a marketing idea. She saw another exhibitor handing out squares of chocolate, with a picture of their products on the wrapper. Andy took up the idea:
'It is something different,' he says. 'It all helps to get you noticed.'
He has certainly succeeded in that so far, at bctf and beyond.
Andy James
T: 01427 638410
