The owner and founder of Forest 2 Furniture is Patrick Turk. He originally set up the business because some friends had
recently purchased a small woodland within the historic Sherwood Forest with several wind blown trees and no idea what
to do with them other then cutting up for firewood.
Patrick's background as a cabinet maker with over 20yrs experience came to the forefront, with his passion for trees and
their wood the seeds for Forest 2 Furniture were set.
Although a master in his field of making & restoring furniture Patrick knew little of the process of turning trees
into planks.
The biggest challenge that faced Patrick was not what to do with the wood but how to extract the trees from where
they had fallen (none had fallen by the roadside) and mill them into planks.
And so the journey began, finding a way to extract trees from within ancient forests with little impact to the woodland
floor, drying the timber in an environmental way and educating others that fallen trees have many more uses then just
a form of heat.
Today Forest 2 Furniture focuses mainly on timber processing, whether it be for our own purpose to dry and sell on
through our Wood Barn or for others to use in their own projects we still hold true to Patrick's original goals.
1706. In each generation there have been either Chair Makers, French Polishers or Cabinet Makers.
Many of the hand tools Patrick uses today are the same ones used by his great grandfather who was a chair maker
in Bethnal Green, London in the late 1800's.
Established as a cabinet maker and furniture restorer for over 35 years following a 4 year apprenticeship in furniture
restoration and wood turning, Patrick has gained a wealth of experience and knowledge in the design and
construction of furniture through the ages.
Although the company he served his apprenticeship with were not cabinet makers this was not a problem for him, as
Patrick has always had a natural ability to look at a piece of furniture and know how to make it. He says "I can't
explain how or why but I just know how to make it. It must be something in my genes passed down through the
generations".
He says "It would be nice to say that the furniture starts as a sketch on a drawing pad; from there a working drawing
is made so that a cutting list can be prepared.
However, sometimes there are no sketches or drawings; sometimes I just have a picture in my head of the piece I
want to make and need to go with the flow allowing my hands and mind to work in unison."
As with all artisans and their art, it is the medium in which they work that dictates how the final piece will turn out.
In Patrick's case it is the characteristics of the timber - the grain pattern, the colours, the knots, etc -
that determine the final design.
Being able to see the tree in its natural environment in the forest, controlling the cutting, milling and drying phases
through to the finale of the finished piece is a tremendous buzz that few artisans ever enjoy.
Patrick's work has been exhibited in galleries in Nottinghamshire, Liecestershire, London and on the British stand
at the Milan Salone International Del Mobile in 2012.
Below is a selection of the pieces that were shown, click on the image to see more detail.
With the increase in trees needing to be milled Patrick no longer exhibits his work but he will still take on the occasional
commission.
Below are photos of some of his commission pieces, the latest being table tops in various timbers for a local
French restaurant.
