Meet the Artist
As well as the ‘preview exhibition’ taking place in July, in the run up to the main Open Studios event in August, Arran Open Studios has been publishing a series of blogs about participating artists. In ‘New Masters’, Emily Rose Mawson visits three Arran artists working with different materials, and here we reprint an extract about furniture restorer John Divine and his medium of Wood. All photo credits Emily Rose Mawson.
Arranach Barrel Furniture
“There’s an east wind blowing today,” says furniture restorer John Divine, shutting the door to his studio in a barn that must see some weather. It sits between the iconic locations of Machrie Moor and King’s Cave and looks out onto the incisor-like mountains of North Arran. Inside, I take in the full extent of the surrounds, a palette of browns in layer upon layer of wood in various guises. My eye lands on an exquisite Georgian-style Victorian doll’s house waiting to be restored; then a worktable strewn with tools, oils and polishes; a saw sitting in dunes of dust; and arranged here and there, the most marvellous chairs and drinks cabinets, each fashioned from a whisky barrel.
“John Divine – Furniture Repair & Restoration, Cabinetmaker” developed his iconic design during the lockdown. After uprooting his Edinburgh-based furniture restoration and Windsor chair business to Arran in 2010 (and seeing that it would take some time to establish), he took a part-time job at Lochranza Distillery, tour guiding and later distilling.
“In lockdown, when I was furloughed, I discovered a couple of whisky barrels at home, and it seemed a waste,” he says. It is American white oak, he tells me, “very good quality timber”, yet most of the used barrels are broken down and burned – especially in the winter. He dismantled his barrels into the lid, base and individual staves (it’s usually around 50 per barrel) and noticed that the curved shape suited a lot of nice designs – tea light holders, for example, and porridge spurtles. “You can work with the shape,” says John, pointing out the soft curves in every clock and stand. “It’s endless. The only limit is your imagination really.” Arranach Barrel Furniture was born, and his portfolio now encompasses benches, chairs and a very popular drinks cabinet.
The distillery loved his work from the off and became an early customer, and when I meet him, he is working on a big order for the recently opened Lagg Distillery. He also takes commissions, but all his designs have one thing in common: they are made uniquely from wood that has been in contact with Lochranza whisky – sherry casks, bourbon casks, and standard American oak. He invites me to take a seat in a chair, a beautiful Windsor-style thing with Medieval-like studs. I settle back, enjoying the support it gives my spine. “They’re very comfortable,” confirms John. “They don’t look it, but they are – everyone says so.”
A chair like this might take him a week to make. There are challenges, like sourcing the sherry cask tops he uses for the seats, but the most time-intensive process is cleaning the staves – removing the char in a five-step process and finally sanding it down. “It’s a very dirty process – you get covered in stuff. This is clean!” laughs John, pointing to his dust-speckled apron.
Watch a video of John Divine in his studio
Besides remodelling barrels, John works with his neighbour, the joiner Andy Leese (another Arran Open Studios participant), adding wax and polish or upholstery to Andy’s furniture. But his next big job is restoring the magnificent doll’s house that caught my eye upon entering his workshop. “All I’ve got to do is try and redo all the different trims and make it look nice again,” he says, as if he were going to simply repaint a garden fence.
To read the full article, which also features the glass work of David Bowie, and paper designs of Karen Bell, see the link here
Arran Open Studios Weekend is taking place this year on weekend Friday 11th – Monday 14th August, all across Arran
Arran Open Studios is an annual initiative incorporating painters, sculptors and craftspeople from the Isle of Arran. Launched in 2012, it operates under the umbrella arts charity the Arran Theatre and Arts Trust.
Our artists have come together once again to share their love and passion for their art with you. Our invitation is extended to all, whether you already enjoy art, or are maybe just a wee bit curious. Whether you already love and feel inspired by the Isle of Arran or this is your first visit.
Full details of all the participating studios are on the website and also in the printed brochure that is widely available on Arran and further afield. Whether you want to purchase the object of your desire, see how the artists and makers work, browse the studios and creative places or just pop in for a chat – rest assured you are very welcome.
You can also download the brochure as a PDF here.
