Anthony Dain

I am a woodworker and furniture maker based at the Sylva Wood Centre in Oxfordshire. I graduated from Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College with a BA and Furniture Design and Craft in 2007. Between 2008 and 2016 I worked in a number of workshops with a range of employers learning about all areas of the craft before setting up my own business in 2016. 

I design and make furniture from local and native timbers to commission and for exhibition. I produce a variety of products and offer a range of services, from wood-based wall art and furniture through to complete bespoke interiors.  In 2019 my work was shown at the London Design Fair, Truman Brewery as part of London Design Week and The Great Northern Craft Fair in Manchester.  I was chosen, alongside 25 other makers, to participate in the Crafts Council’s Hothouse programme in 2019 as well as being selected to become a member of Design Nation, a portfolio of acclaimed craftspeople from around the UK. In 2018, three of my pieces were shown at ‘’Celebration of Craft and Design’ in Cheltenham. My work has appeared in ‘Country Living’ magazine and ‘Furniture and Cabinet making’. 

I hope to make either a small cabinet or stool from the timber. I have only chosen a small amount (2 planks) of the Ash tree so I will have to let it air-dry as much as possible over the coming months. Once it comes time to use the timber I will have to see if there are any splits, twists or checking and work around them and then look at the grain and colour of the timber and plan out a design that best serves the wood.