Angus Ross

ANGUS ROSS furniture starts in a bluebell wood in Highland Perthshire, Scotland. Angus knows and cares for these trees and when the time is right, he works them into furniture, that will last beyond their rooted lifespan. His craftsmanship is a dialogue with wood and he asks it to bend further, to colour deeper, to flex and join in ways that few would try, resulting in a beautiful stretching of possibility.

Q&A

Artist Statement

Designer Angus Ross works in Perthshire Scotland with waste wood created during sustainable management of local precious native broadleaf woodlands. These include wind-blown trees and carefully selected, individual trees felled to improve the bio-diversity and future health and resilience of the woodland. He provides workshop based craft education and leads a team of highly skilled wood-workers hand-crafting furniture for homes, gardens and public places. Their specialist technique is steam-bending which allows them to coax air-dried wood into exquisite curvaceous components which are combined with traditional Arts and Crafts woodwork. Ross works mostly to commission creating narrative-rich intensely personal furniture.

What craft do you work with?

I started as a product designer working in plastic for mass-manufacture. After that I retrained in woodwork and furniture making. I have been working as a designer-maker in wood since 1992. For the last 20 years I have been fascinated by steam-bending. It is a fast, unpredictable physical process and is never the same as each piece of wood reacts differently.

What inspires you to work with this craft?

Working with local wood I work with a network of people passionate about trees and woodland. From specialist foresters caring for precious broadleaf woodlands (and this sometimes includes felling specific trees), to saw-millers who turn this into useable planks, and to the makers in our team

How do you start your creative process?

Do research into who it is for, why they are commissioning, where it is for and why it has been commissioned. Usually involves a talk and visit. Then mull it over…

How would you best describe your workspace and what tools could you not do without?

A workshop in small market town of Aberfeldy, Perthshire that has been used continuously for woodwork since 1886. Machine shop with big saws downstairs and a light airy cabinet-shop upstairs with four work-benches.