"The world is a better place for having craftsmen (and women!) like these at work." [T&CL, Hereford]
18th August - 27th August 2012
New Competitions Launched for 2011!
We have three brand new awards to make this year, all designed to encourage and promote excellence and good practice.
For more details about these exciting awards click here
The Alan Peters Award commemorates a man dedicated to bespoke furniture and highly respected by all within the industry. Whilst being a model professional that started his career as an apprentice under the renowned Edward Barnsley in 1949, Alan Peters OBE was also a great teacher, always keen to share and encourage. It is only fitting therefore that our award for students and emerging talents bears his name and respects his philosophy of excellence in every aspect of design and craftsmanship from timber selection to appropriate design.
The award is designed to encourage and promote emerging young talent within the bespoke furniture industry. It gives up to three new designer-makers the opportunity to win free exhibition space for their entry at Celebration of Craftsmanship & Design. This allows winners to exhibit and network with established and highly regarded professionals within a selling environment, gaining valuable experience and exposure to a very discerning and knowledgeable audience.
This was the Alan Peters Award’s inaugural year and proved an unmitigated success. After a very strong and encouraging number of entries it was a pleasure to meet our three winners at the exhibition. They confirmed their enthusiasm for entering the bespoke furniture industry with their frequent attendance alongside their work over the ten days and the judges decisions were validated spectacularly as we were delighted to sell the entries of two winners whilst the third had excellent interest!
Below: The 2011 Winners and judges. From left: Keith Newton (Judge), Jeremy Broun (Judge), Jason Heap (Judge), Ed Borastero (Winner), Paul Tout (Winner), James Long (Winner).
The judges commented that James’s simple yet striking design, combined with beautifully proportioned and cut dovetails, make this piece very desirable. The judges firmly believe that Alan Peters would have approved of this piece.
The original aesthetic of this piece stood out for the judges whilst the block built, shaped structure demonstrated a good level of craftsmanship used in an appropriate manner to achieve a simultaneously decorative and structurally sound result.
Ed’s piece was well received by the judges for its manufacturing complexity and the obvious quality of his execution to produce a piece that is both aesthetically interesting and pleasing. This is enhanced further by a good choice of decorative, contrasting timbers.
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