David Palmer

I work with locally sourced wood in the beautiful heart of Bronte Country to make bespoke items

From Taxman to Craftsman

I have often been asked what I would really want to do with my life. I have usually answered, to be a poet. This was born from the desire to, in some small way, shine a light on the beauty of life. This was always more dream than reality. But now it seems I have been given the opportunity to explore that dream and see where it takes me.

On the 4th of May 2017, after twenty years working behind a tax office computer, I got the opportunity to work as apprentice wood carver under the tutelage of Brad Quarless. I use the word work loosely as I had far too much fun for it to really be labelled as such. During my time with him I absorbed skills and knowledge that I never thought I would have the chance to learn.
I have always had a close affinity with nature but wood was one element that mystified me. To be allowed to partake in the centuries long process of a tree growing, to being felled and to then being fashioned into a functional and aesthetic object is a privilege beyond compare.

One of my favourite quotes from one of my favourite photographers, André Kertész sums it up.
We can never know how beautiful nature really is, we can only guess.

It might, after all, be my fate to be a poet in wood. Which is no bad thing, I guess.