The Small World Driftwood Scavenger Co. was created in 1994 as an excuse to make regular visits to the remote corners of the Cornish coastline whilst picking up interesting bits of wood and scratching my head as to what to create apart from a nice warm fire and a hot cup of tea...after my first attempts sold to an unsuspecting public i gained the confidence to start making even more cups of tea and rescratching my head...from whence came many things....
I am self taught with a constant creative spirit running through my head and my hands. The driftwood is collected from amongst the craggy outcrops, the secret coves and beaches, scattered around the Lizard Peninsula, clumsily carried on sore shoulders over rocks, up steep paths and cliffs. Once dried, the wood is then crafted using time honoured traditions passed down through a network of trials and errors. I then finish the pieces in natural oils....
Commonly named because the wood drifts in the sea.
It is chemically simple and structurally unpredictable. On its merry journey the wood can fall off boats or branches get washed down streams and rivers and pop out into the sea. They then aim themselves rather cleverly to the Lizard coastline, as well as many others of course . By the time it has reached the shoreline it has been in a salty washing machine for how long, only the tides can tell. Scrunched and crunched with total abandon giving the appearance of........driftwood...
The hardness and different types of wood are measured by inches and centipedes. And sometimes the Gribble worm.
Over the years, as Driftwood becomes more and more scarce, i have found myself using Re-claimed wood and local woods alongside my collection of Driftwood. I also harvest Hazel, Hawthorn, Sycamore and Blackthorn from around my property. I treat all the insect life i come across with respect and harvest the wood as sustainably as possible.