Francis Sherwood

I was born in the foothills of the Preseli mountains in West Wales.  My mother is from Guyana, South America, and my father from England.  I grew up in the countryside on a very large farm, and we spent our time fishing, making dens and camping.  Today I live in Thailand.  Here, the food is incredibly tasty.  In fact, they have a special word for tasty that describes the extreme tastes you can find here.

I have been making things for as long as I can remember.  As a family we went camping when I was at very young age, so the very first craft I remember was making a whistle from a fresh twig. These whistles were beautiful, but they wouldn't last long as they relied on the fresh bark to allow it to slide back and forth to make different tones.  Another very important craft I'll always remember is making a walking stick.  At the start of any long walk, the first job was always to make a good walking stick.  These would usually then be thrown away at the end of the walk unless they were particularly nice, but making it was always an experience I very much enjoyed.  Perhaps these experiences are why my favourite material to work with is definitely wood.  Wood literally comes from the ground and is already beautiful, so when you fashion that into something else, it becomes not only useful but is beautifully linked to the world.

Growing up, we didn't have phones or computers, so we needed to make our own fun.  I am thankful for this, as it has made my brothers and I into very creative thinkers, and now we now use these creative skills in everything we do.  Being creative and making useful objects are what improves life.  It also adds beauty and enjoyment to life . Being able to improve on the world is a gift I want to pass on, so the joy of creating and using these creations can be appreciated by more people.