Design
Design is a fundamental part of my working practice. I don't take a random piece of wood, and make something out of it - I design it first, using specific design principles to create a set of coherent objects.
I use root proportions to get an overall proportion, splitting the sides/top into 1/3s or 1/5s to mark out important elements such as the lid etc. Then I balance contrast and harmony along with repetition to get a balanced overall look. For example, I might place a number of same sized beads along the body (repetition), contrasting that with a plainer lid and/or I might use contrasting coloured woods which, although different, create a sense of balance.
I create these designs using pen and paper, using some drawing paper I've created using Python Computer Code. This drawing paper has rectangles drawn out in various root proportions (root 2,3, 5 etc.) with the sides split into 1/3s and 1/5s. I can easily try out all kinds of designs on this paper, knowing the proportion is being preserved.
I also use a sketch book, where I sketch out rough ideas, which I then transfer on to my drawing paper described above.
