Ahead of next months open studios I am in the midst of a clean up. What should’ve been a simple tidy and vac has become a complex yet satisfying furniture and tool sort. First to go is the oak table I rescued from a skip in Stoke; lovingly peeling back formica before sanding, sanding some more and oiling; it has been dragged from subsequent house to house over 20 years of gradual use as number one painting table. Rest in pieces old friend. No longer will I hear ‘You could sell the top as a picture’.
Next to go is my 436 piece collection of allen keys, free with every piece of furniture I have ever bought. Just keeping one seems the sensible option until I try to find it…
The shed in this picture sits on the edge of the Trent and Mersey Canal in the heart of Stoke. It was spotted on a recent tour of places I lived as a student. I know how to show someone a good time. I particularly like the stereo – essential fisherman’s kit. You can imagine the resident, struggling to see the difference between the cloudy brown homebrew he is drinking, and the stuff he dips his rod into.
