Thirston Morris
Furniture Designer Maker
I have a passion for the crafts, in particular my area, which is Furniture Making.
The furniture I really love to make, explores contradictions, opposites, misdirection and surprise, whether this is achieved through texture, shape, function or just perception. I like to incorporate ideas derived from architecture and nature and I like furniture which has some complexity in the construction.
Playing and making things with wood are amongst my earliest memories. I grew up in a household where things were made from our house, to items of decoration and function, such as furniture. I learnt my initial skills from my father, a master craftsman, providing a solid foundation in hand skills and timber knowledge.
I have had a broad range of woodworking experience, including first and second fix carpentry, kitchen manufacturing and stair making, including working on a number of spiral staircases but it was the completion of my two City and Guilds from London Metropolitan University in Hand Crafted Cabinet Making and in Wood Machining, in 2004, that opened up the world of Furniture making and I have been working as a Furniture Designer Maker ever since.
My business Allwood Speciality Timbers, Thirston Morris Fine Furniture is a Design Centre which brings together a number of elements, all of which are involved with the construction of furniture. As well as the Design and construction of furniture, we are a Timber Merchant which stocks and supplies a high standard of select grade timbers, both Australian and imported, and we provide Fine Woodwork classes, alongside CNC, Laser and Wood Machining services.
When I consider what inspires me I sometimes feel it is too broad. I am a Post Modern child; there are so many styles I like. I realise that while I like and use a lot of aesthetics from the past, I will increasingly look to the future and nature for my inspiration. I feel inspired by some of the modern Architecture I see and I love shapes one finds in Nature. Structural integrity is very important to me, I like joined furniture and in this regard the past has a lot to offer.