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popswood.uk
lights & tables

about

designer and maker phil warren

tree side of the moon....

inspiring...the ancient Borrowdale yew trees

designed and handmade in northumberland uk

for a lifetime and beyond .....

We are unique designer makers producing lights and furniture on a small scale. Our workshop is situated in Northumberland.

Our ethos is always to source materials as locally as possible and to handmake every item with a low carbon footprint that will last generations.

Designs are based on function and durability and with simple proportioning provide a timeless style allowing more appreciation of the age and beauty of the wood.

There are no materials used from outside of Europe and thus no negative impact on unknown distant land and marine habitats.

All the wood used is from trees sourced by me from within the British Isles and as locally as possible often from Northumberland and neighbouring counties.

The trees I search for and find are mostly between 150 and 280 years old. They are usually well in decline or have fallen or deemed unsafe to remain standing.

Every tree is ring counted at its base to verify its age.

Then the process begins of selecting which sections of the tree trunk are useable to me. These are then sawn to various lengths to provide the initial wood blocks for sculpting and furniture sections.

Sometimes a tree will just not yield suitable wood for a particular furniture project or sculpting and will then be put to other good uses.

It is a fascinating process to work the wood in different ways bringing out a myriad of varying shapes patterns colours and grain directions.

While working the wood I am always aware of the age of each piece and often wonder what the tree and its surroundings and people were like at various stages during its long lifespan.

No matter how many times I 'open up' a block of tree trunk to work it is always intriguing to see how the wood has grown shaped by so many external influences and so imperceptibly slowly to us.

Over the years I have planted several thousand native broadleaved saplings in Northumberland, and that's no big deal to do so, but planting trees on any scale and anywhere means the result is always a HUGE deal for the planet. So let's do more ....

Handmade Handmade no two sculpted items are the same ! wood source and age always verified by me.

please click here to see more about wood

All my work is entirely of my own designs, made to exacting standards and durability to ensure a long service life, and also correctly and finely finished to preserve the legacy that old trees give us....

the light fantastic...silver birch lamp shades

click on any image below to enlarge

becoming the dominant beings on this planet has disrupted or destroyed many habitats, and now that we understand that, to save as many fauna and flora, we must protect what is left, restore as much as we can, and look for the cornerstones that are lost

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