NEWS

We have recently become members of the prestigious Contemporary Applied Arts (CAA) in London. Originally founded in 1948, they have been representing contemporary Bitish makers ever since. They have a large retail gallery on Percy Street in London where I will be exhibiting work later in the year. As part of the application process I had to take work down to show them. As we are currently low on stock we took my desk and chair from home, explaining that these were pieces in daily use in a busy houshold. It was commented that it was nice to see how well the pieces stood up over time and how beautifully the wood had aged.

Yesterday I delivered the final piece of furniture for St Aubyns church. The Alter, lectern and Chair (made by Sean Stowell) are the final pieces of the project. Here are some pics.

Today I am delivering an Alice chair to Exeter. The chair has been bought as a 40th birthday present for my client’s sister. The material she chose is by the architect and designer Josef Frank of Svenskt Tenn. I love the way the fabric changes the feel of the chair and that its design is able to take such a bold patterns.

I met Amanda Le Page of Le Page Architects during the summer whilst exhibiting at Bovey Tracey Contemporary Craft Fair. We got chatting and she told me about a project that they had been working on in Plymouth to restore a church and at the same time use the building as a public library. The main work was completed and they needed someone to make the alter, lectern and a chair to complete the project and asked if I would be interested. I normally only make my own designs but the project sounded interesting and I agreed to have a look at the job.

The pieces were designed by Charlotte Burden who works for Le Page and were designed as part of the overall scheme. Here are a few pics of the alter. I will put more photo s on when I have delivered the lectern.

Earlier this year I became a member of  The Devon Guild of Craftsmen. On Monday Alice and I went down for a spot of lunch in at the guild and to hang a set of ‘Clarity shelves’ in the shop as part of their Christmas exhibition. The shelves are also available directly fom me (furniture@christianoreilly.com), they are made in oak and toughened glass and retail for £325 including p&p to mainland UK.