Coracle pt I

I am attempting to build a coracle, my mum has a large pond to paddle around on and wants to have a coracle to reach the pond weed in the middle and I always wanted to try to make a boat. 

In the UK, coracles are traditionally known as being Welsh and that's how I knew them, however they are also found in South East Asia. When I was in Vietnam I saw coracles on the beach used for fishing and I thought they were rather beautiful and practical objects so I took photos, also just in case I wanted to try making my own one day...

 

 Before I started, I didn't do much research- 10 minutes on Google images and how-to websites showed me they can be made from willow, and we have plenty of that in my garden, so I decided to just try. This might not end well.
I'm showing part 1 here in the hope that once it stops raining for a few days, I can finish it soon. I also don't have any material for the waterproof skin yet, traditionally it's an animal hide but as they're rather hard to come by, I'm going to possibly try calico and bitumen, that's if it holds it's shape..

Here's how it's gone,... I think total time spent on it so far has been roughly 2-3 hours.

Using a stick and some string I roughly marked out a circle and pushed the ends of 16 freshly cut willow sticks into the ground.

Then I took the opposite ones and folded them over to make a cross hatch woven base. I am making it upside down to use the ground as support rather than using strips of wood to form a wooden ring, according to The Coracle Society they're called the gunwhales.

I didn't really know how I should weave them but this looked more stable than just to have them all crossing over each other in the middle.

I have started to weave around the rim to support the dome shape but it needs more work. I also need to decide how deep to make it.

Anyway, watch this space for updates...

my 'helper'

American Oak

Here we have serving boards of american oak with some quite impressive grain and colour pattern. 

NB the well-used candle prop.

Template cutting in the sunshine

George Town

This old colonial town on the island of Penang in Malaysia is an exotic melting pot of Malay, Indian, Chinese and European influences. I took way too many photos of this beautiful place, especially the floor tiles.

Tiny People Earrings

Every once in a while I make some more earrings. Here is the most recent batch...

background photo from here

Commission

Turpentine Launch

I went to the launch night for The Turpentine which has opened in Brixton. It was really nice to see it completed as I dropped off my boards when the girls had just got the space. I thought they did a really impressive job and it is well worth a visit. It was a really great turn-out with people piling out onto the street.

The have cleverly turned a whole wall into different sized shelving of OSB

I like that they have left the brick wall as it is, the prints look great with that as a backdrop.

Thanks again to the girls at the Turpentine for inviting me to be a part of their shop :)

shop launch

A few weeks ago I was invited to have my boards in a lovely new shop, come along to the launch night for a bit of retail therapy... So excited to be a part of it.

http://www.theturpentine.com

Crafty Fox

Just sharing a couple of photos from the Crafty Fox Market I did in the Bussey Building in Peckham last weekend...

It was really fun and I met some lovely people. Thank you very much to Crafty Fox for organising and letting me be a part of it.

www.craftyfoxmarket.co.uk

and here I am...

last photo with permission from: zurichlondoncraftyexploration.wordpress.com thank you!

Bigger/Brighter/Bolder

Hello all

Just to say I'm in an exhibition and it's here and it's fabulous and you are most welcome