Meet Ross Clark, master craftsman
Local man Ross Clark has always dreamed of turning his passion for woodcraft into his full-time occupation and with the support of his wife Sarah, that dream is finally becoming a reality.
Ross, better known as The Coppermill Workshop creates beautiful, bespoke pieces of furniture out of upcycled wood and copper. Ross's environmentally conscious products are all hand-made in his workshop in the evenings and at weekends.
"I've been wanting to make the jump to working for myself for a while now and with orders coming in and the business growing, I'm pleased to say that from the end of May I will officially be working full-time on my own venture," says Ross with a smile.
With everyone spending a lot of time at home recently, Ross has seen an increase in orders for many of his products, particularly those related to alcohol. Fancy that!
"My hand-crafted wooden, garden wall bars are proving extremely popular and are my biggest seller. They are a bit of a talking piece when entertaining and some of my customers have sent me some great photos of them in use. They really took off when the Daily Telegraph featured one of them."
Ross has turned his hand, very successfully, to make a variety of homeware pieces such as shoe racks, bedside tables, shelves and has even made a wall-mounted trophy stand for a boxing glove.
So, yes, he does take requests and is always up for creating something unique, personal and special for his customers. Ross has been very mindful of where he gets his supplies from and believes in supporting the local economy, sourcing most of his wood from a company in Barrowhill, which he stains in a variety of colours including granite grey, lightly steamed beech and silk grey.
"When I first started, I tried using varnish, but it didn't give me the high-quality finish I was looking for. Now I use a wax which not only protects the wood making it more durable but gives it a smooth, shiny finish, which I think looks great."
It was great chatting to Ross about this exciting new chapter in his life and I have no doubt one of his pieces will appear in our home very soon, or maybe on the garden wall outside (insert winky face here).
FB @thecoppermillworkshop
IG thecoppermillworkshop
Words: Simon Paterson
Images: The Coppermill Workshop
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