Kim was born in Kildare, Ireland.   On leaving Newbridge College at 18 he took an apprenticeship for Carpentry and Joinery in Sligo through ANCO.  After a year in Galway at college he finished his full apprenticeship with a well known Sligo Civil Builder.  He worked on building the Sligo General Hospital.  He was fortunate in his apprenticeship to be mostly involved second  fixing and finalizing carpentry whilst also learning traditional forms of building and roofing.

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Once his apprenticeship was finished he left for England and found employment with a team of Irish carpenters who were re-fitting solid oak paneling throughout the large bank buildings in London.

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He always had the dream of making fine furniture and after meeting his wife they moved out into the country to start a fine furniture business working in solid timbers such as Oak, Sycamore, Elm, Chestnut, Mahogany and Oregon Pine.

Kim's work is divided into two definite periods his work in Wales and his work in Australia. 

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Once we bought our home and a few acres in Pembrokeshire, Wales we built our first workshop and machine shed.  This was a busy and successful time with ever increasing commissions coming from the cities and the manor houses.   We made extensive country manor house kitchens in oak and elm.

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We found a great supplier for quarter sawn oak and many other local timbers.

 

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We grew quickly, built more workshops and employed makers, hand finishers and a machinist.    He designed and made and each maker made his own piece unless the commission was very large.  We exhibited widely both at places such as Powderham Castle, Distinctive Homes Exhibition in Alexandria as well as large fairs. 

 

A few years down the track in 1989 England had a massive financial crash and orders just stopped coming in. 

 

We were luckier than most because we had one year's worth of orders on the books.  Eventually we closed the business packed our bags and left for a new life in Australia with our two children.

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We moved into outskirts of a small country town in the  South West Forests of Western Australia.

 

Kim had a steep learning curve getting a grip on Australian Timbers which are mainly Eucalypts.  They

were so different to the ones he had be used to working with.

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The main timbers here were Jarrah (a natural red), Marri a blond timber with some wild look grain, Blackbutt another lighter timber and Sheoak a  golden colour turning reddish when older with beautiful highlight flecks through it similar to quarter sawn oak.

 

 

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He enjoyed the challenges of the new timbers and started making furniture again. 

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Cutting his own timber in the native forest  and then sticking out the timber to air dry for a couple of years.   Then learning how to the kiln dry to the perfect moisture content became part of an exciting new adventure for him.

 

We have been here in the South West of Western Australia for  thirty years now and he feels that now is the time to pass on his skills through making courses for other furniture makers to follow.

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He has decided to make a course for any new piece that comes through his workshop and still would like to attract commissions for that reason.

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