After 27 years in sales, Tim relocated from Buckinghamshire to West Dorset and decided it was time to do something new, although working with wood wasn’t entirely new to him. Inspired by a marquetry demonstration seen in his early twenties, Tim learned marquetry with the aid of books and articles and had been practising for over 25 years. During the course Tim added beautiful marquetry detail to his level 3 assessment piece and gave an impromptu marquetry demonstration to the group. They were hooked and so were we. We asked Tim to teach marquetry courses here at the Academy.
Tim has now started his own business ‘Tim Clayton Woodcraft’. Tim says “I didn’t feel inclined to try to get an apprentice position at the age of 48 and probably end up mostly preparing bits of wood for somebody else to do interesting things with. I decided to try to go it on my own and set up a workshop at home. The quality of the teaching at the BBA is so high that I felt sufficiently confident to give it a shot, quietly at first as I built up some experience.” Tim has been making speculative pieces – jewellery/trinket/keepsake boxes, most decorated with applied marquetry, as well as small pieces of furniture; occasional tables, console tables and bedside cabinets. Becoming more ambitious with each new piece, Tim is building up experience and introducing marquetry to some furniture as well as to the boxes.
