Meet the maker: Green

A growing passion

Meet the maker Jim Bradley

By Jo Macaulay Pictures Julian Winslow

Some might say that Jim Bradley is living the dream. Thirty years ago, he and his family planted a woodland with thousands of saplings of different native broadleaved trees, mainly oak, hazel, silver birch, willow and field maple. Then he waited…

Over the years he maintained and nurtured his woodland, and when the trees got big enough, he began to coppice them and to use the coppiced wood to create green woodwork items. At first these were small items such as spoons, butter spreaders, coasters, coat hooks, thumb sticks for walking and coffee scoops. But as his confidence grew, he began to make more difficult items such as trinket boxes, vases (they have glass vessels inside them) and then coffee tables and children’s chairs. Jim now sells many of these lovingly crafted items at craft fairs and events across the Island. “Sometimes at craft fairs people come up to me and say, ‘I think of you every

“…wood is a very tactile material. It’s not like plastic or metal. People are drawn to it.”

morning,’” says Jim. “It was a bit surprising at first, but I’m used to it now. It turns out they use one of my coffee scoops as part of their morning ritual! “Coffee scoops are great as they never need to be washed up, and can be left in the jar,” he adds. “Craft is art you can use, interact with, touch,” says Jim. “It’s lovely to think of people using things I’ve made. Many of us have a favourite cooking spoon or chopping board. Cooking is such a hands-on thing, and wood is a very tactile material. It’s not like plastic or metal. People are drawn to it. “‘Touch wood’ is one of our oldest traditions, I think. Handmade objects are special. I rarely make two things

that look similar, and the grain of wood varies hugely. I love using fruit woods like cherry and mulberry, but hazel is also a favourite. “Hazel has a subtle grain, is really nice to carve and has such gorgeous bark. I use it for making spoons, egg cups, butter spreaders, chair and table legs, and ‘thumb sticks’ - walking sticks that are great as an aid for coping with slippery slopes. “I grow lots of hazel. It’s a wood that coppices really well. You can cut it down to the ground and it zooms back up, with lots of straight stems. Humans have been coppicing hazel for over 4000 years, using it to make fencing, baskets and even in wattle and daub houses. The trees actually live longer if coppiced. “If you have a woodland, you divide it into sections called ‘coups’. You only ever cut some of these sections each year, so you always have wood at different stages of growth. Hazel is wonderful for wildlife. The woodmice and squirrels love the nuts, they’re a great early source of pollen for bees and various moth caterpillars enjoy the leaves. “I’ve been carving spoons for about eight years now. It started as a hobby. My first efforts took many hours and were pretty clunky. But with hours of practice, gradually developing skills and experience with different tools, I’ve got better, and quicker! “Years ago, when I was an apprentice potter, frustrated at my own abilities, I was told a useful saying: ‘The first ten thousand pots are the worst’. I love this... It’s not saying you’ll be perfect after that particular number, just that you’re on a journey, you will improve, and it’s ok to not yet be great at something. “Throwing pots taught me lots of things that are really useful for what I do now.... to think in three dimensions,

the importance of curves and edges. I start with a fresh piece of wood, look at it and think about what it can be turned into. If it’s a spoon or scoop I start with a carving axe and rough out a basic shape. Then I use a wonderful old tool called a spoke shave to smooth the wood, and then straight and curved knives to finish. “The wood is carved ‘green’ - fresh rather than dry. So, I then have to carefully dry the spoon before finishing it. This involves burnishing - rubbing it all over with a smooth pebble to compress the grain, and finally oiling. “It’s a magical moment when the oil goes on, as it really brings all the beautiful colours and patterns out. I sell my work at craft fairs and events. It’s lovely meeting people and chatting, and it makes a change from being alone in the woods with just the squirrels and robins for company.... although that does feel like home.”

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