The furniture I really love to make, explores contradictions, opposites, misdirection and surprise, whether this is achieved through textures, shapes, function or just perception. I like to incorporate ideas derived from architecture and nature and I like furniture which has some complexity in the construction.
I am a Furniture Designer Maker. In 2014 I became an Accredited member of Studio Woodworkers Australia. Click here to view SWA website
Playing and making things with wood are amongst my earliest memories. I grew up in a household where things were made, from our house, to items of decoration and function, such as furniture.
I learnt my initial skills from my father, a master craftsman and in high school, where woodwork was one of my subjects. I later discovered that the woodwork at my school was taught to a fairly high standard, providing a solid foundation in hand skills and timber knowledge.
I studied for and was awarded two City and Guilds from London Metropolitan University, one in Hand Crafted Cabinet Making and the other in Wood Machining.
The completion of this course in 2004 opened the door to the world of furniture making and I have been working as a Furniture Designer/Maker ever since
I have a broad range of woodworking experience, including first and second fix carpentry, kitchen manufacturing and stair making, including working on a number of spiral staircases.
I make commissioned furniture for clients as well as working on small production pieces for galleries.
I have participated in a number of exhibitions, with the Kauri Project (Sydney Botanical Gardens) being my first, followed by exhibitions at both Bungendore Woodworks Gallery and Sturt Gallery.
I am an accredited member of Studio Woodworkers Australia.
I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. At the age of 3 our family moved to Walkerville, a regional area south of Johannesburg. It was Plot 54 which really shaped me, living on a small holding where my father, who was recognised as a master craftsman, built everything.
It was here in his workshop where I was encouraged to try anything. I carved, turned and built small and large projects. I can remember constantly asking him “what wood is this?”, getting him to fix my poor sharpening technique and often driving him mad by mistreating one of his tools. I also had to help him when building projects for or around the house. I made plenty of mistakes, accumulated a number of scars but I learnt.
From 1991 until 2005 I lived in the United Kingdom, during this period I studied Fine Arts for two years and I studied for and was awarded two City and Guilds from London Metropolitan University, one in Hand Crafted Cabinet Making and the other in Wood Machining.
In 2005 I moved together with my wife and two young children to Australia, our third child was born shortly after our arrival. For my wife it was a homecoming after 13 years and for me it was a new adventure.
We have based ourselves in the Shoalhaven on the NSW South Coast, which along with an amazing escarpment and beautiful beaches is also home to some of Australia’s’ finest furniture makers. I count makers like Leon Sadubin, Phil Gould, David Upfill Brown and Warwick Wright as friends and I have had the good fortune to work for and with many of these makers.
When I consider what inspires me I sometimes feel it is too broad. I am a Post Modern child; there are so many styles I like. I realise that while I like and use a lot of aesthetics from the past, I will increasingly look to the future and nature for my inspiration. I feel inspired by some of the modern Architecture I see and I love shapes one finds in Nature. Structural integrity is very important to me, I like joined furniture and in this regard the past has a lot to offer.
Thirston Morris
COMMISSIONED FURNITURE
In today’s retail environment with mass produced products purchased from generic retail outlets, commissioning furniture is a unique experience.
To have a piece of furniture designed especially for you, taking into account all of your requirements, whether it is a specific design idea or style, or to fulfil a space and functional requirement, is an exciting and deeply satisfying process, which results in a rare and unique piece of furniture.