My Inspiration

"I have often heard novelists talk about their books in terms of their being 'taken over' by their characters who write the book for them, as if they were no more than a channel—no more than hands on the keyboard. I have a similar experience with chair making.

I specialise in using “green” or unseasoned Hazel for my chairs, which is coppiced in West Cork. Coppicing is a method of managing woodland whereby the Hazel is cut back to the stump and regrows on a 7 year cycle, producing a truly sustainable material. It is important to me to make chairs in an environmentally friendly way, encouraging the planting and management of more trees and promoting clean technology.

When I select a stick I want to work with, it is as if a special kind of energy is released. I am driven to complete the piece, often without really knowing what the finished chair will look like. The element of risk is like a challenge, pushing me to hone my skills, make good decisions and constantly learn more about my materials. Many times during the process, I grab a stool and sit back from the 'work in progress' checking that the gaps between the sticks are 'right.'

I want to retain the animated energy of the trees in my chairs. Hazel is my raw material and depending on its growing conditions and position the bark colouration is always different. By using the Hazel in its natural shapes I am incorporating stories, a different one for each component. Was the woodland wet, was it dense, was their iron in the soil, was it acid, and was it damp? Did the branches have to twist to get to the light, was ivy growing around it and biting into the bark? When the wind blew did one branch rub over another leaving a flattened scar?

This is my raw material, the story continues when I get back to my studio. I have to carefully select sticks that really go together, offering one post up against another, looking for that perfect fit where nature, by pure chance, has grown components that 'work' together. My hands work as if they had knowledge of their own, creating a chair that goes beyond functionality, into the realms of grace and beauty."

Alison Ospina, Green Wood Chairs