Method Studio

My father's latest remarkable carved otter board, made from a single slab of Scottish elm. (Guaranteed to put a smile on your face!) Like all of his stunning otter carvings, the original inspiration stems from a very special encounter with an otter in the wild. To discover more about that story head to @callum.robinson.writes , where there's a link (in bio) to my conversation with the @bbcworldservice , recorded recently at my father's workshop. #handmade #otterman #otters #carving #woodcarving

Water of Life... Such a pleasure for Marisa and I to work with my father on this very special charity auction lot for longtime collaborators @theglenturretwhisky . Using a stunning block of solid Scottish elm - a piece we estimate to be some two hundred years old, selected from the woodyard described in the opening pages of Ingrained (@callum.robinson.writes ) - my father's extraordinary carving skills have been hard at work, bringing the waters of the Turret River to life. The river flowing past Scotland's oldest working distillery, tumbling around a one-of-a-kind @lalique crystal decanter. More details can be found on @theglenturretwhisky feed, and we look forward to the @distillers_one_of_one charity auction in early October. Images via the legendary @schnappsphoto , captured in the workshop where I learned my trade, just off the Robinson family kitchen. #handcrafted #handmade #woodcarving #woodwork #woodshop #carving #wood #elm #carving #whisky #family #wateroflife #Ingrained

Incredibly honoured to be longlisted for the prestigious, and deeply precious, 2025 @wainwrightprize for nature writing. There are so many extraordinary authors and books on this list, whose writing I love and have been inspired by, so to find my work included is such a thrill. Heartfelt thanks to the judging panel for including my work - it means so much - and congratulations to everyone in all categories. Ingrained is a book about what it feels like to make things with your hands in our modern age, and the stories (symbolic and very physical) that course through wood and trees. It's such a pleasure to know that, through this humbling inclusion, new readers may find and reconsider the inosculation of nature and craft. Beautiful music from my dear friend Rossco Galloway (@rossconi ) #handcrafted #handmade #woodwork #craft #wood #forests #nature #naturewriting #trees #memoir #wainwrightprize #Ingrained

Absolutely THRILLED to be awarded the 2025 Indie Book Award for non-fiction, for my debut book, Ingrained: The Making of a Craftsman! Huge thanks to the judges - the only UK literary awards panel made up of independent booksellers - and congratulations to the other incredible authors. @booksaremybag @cwagencyuk @sophielambertagent @curtisbrownbooks @penguinukbooks @doubledayukbooks @method.studio #handcrafted #handmade #woodwork #craft #design #naturewriting #memoir #booksellers #indiebookshop #indiebookshopweek #indiebookawards #bookstagram #Ingrained

My father's latest. Typically understated, minimal and light on detail (!) @callum.robinson.writes #handcrafted #handmade #woodcarving #woodwork #underwater #carving #otterman

I'm absolutely delighted to be talking all things Ingrained at the legendary @hayfestival on Friday the 30th of May! I'll be appearing with the wonderful @williamkirkrestoration at 4pm on the Discovery stage. Ticket/Info link in bio. #handmade #furniture #woodwork #craft #bookfestival #hayfestival #memoir #ingrained #ingrainedbook

Such a delight to get an early glimpse of this inspirational new exhibition @japanhouseldn , created with the legendary @takenakacarpentrytoolsmuseum in Kobe, Japan. (Warm thanks to the team for the kind invitation) A wonderful, and deliciously fragrant, opportunity to experience Japan's tools, timbers, skills and exquisite joinery up close. There's even a life-size Sa-an teahouse! The Craft of Carpentry: Drawing Life from Japan's Forests opens today at Japan House in Kensington, and runs until the 6th of July. Highly, highly recommended. Images c/o @japanhouseldn @callum.robinson.writes #japan #japanhouse #japanesecraft #woodcraft #woodwork #craftsmanship #forests

The latest series of the Material Matters podcast moves from clay to wood with Grant’s latest guest Callum Robinson. @callum.robinson.writes makes all sorts of things out of timber, as well as being the creative director of @method.studio the company he established with his wife, Marisa Giannasi, 15 years ago. In 2024, he published a fascinating, lyrical memoir. Ingrained: The making of a craftsman, tells the story of his lifelong fascination with his material of choice, his relationship with his woodworker father, and running a small business in straightened times. Essentially, it’s a pean to the joy and importance of making things with your hands and to nature itself. In this episode, Callum and Grant talk about: converting an old saw mill into his workshop; publishing Ingrained; the relationship between writing and making; getting into a ‘flow’ state; growing up with wood and how it makes him feel ‘at home’; the material’s ability to ‘radiate nostalgia’; why elm is ‘the tenacious, swaggering dandy of the forest’; the dangers of woodworking; machine tool vertigo; his pivotal relationship with his father; opening his own store; and re-training his hands. To listen to our conversation search for Material Matters with Grant Gibson on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and the MM website (link in bio). Enjoy!! #materialmatterswith #materialmatters #wood #callumrobinson #woodworking #ingrained

Earlier this week I was delighted to be invited onto @npr 's @the1ashow to talk about Ingrained with @jennwhitepubradio One of the wonderful callers on that show, John Flynn, had a really interesting story to tell. If you heard it (and if, like me, you were captivated by his talk of handcrafted boomerangs) you might want to track this down. I did. A link to John's book, and to more of his work, is below. And a link to the my NPR interview is in my bio now! /book #handcrafted #handmade #woodcarving #woodwork #woodshop #boomerang #woodstories #craft #npr #memoir #Ingrained

As anyone who has ever run a small business knows only too well, along with the thrills and excitement, there are plenty of sleepless nights and stressful moments too—especially when staff are involved. Mix in the pride (and, yes, ego) that go hand in hand with artisanal craft work, and the cast of unusual characters that inhabit this often-hidden world, and a high-end carpentry workshop provides a near perfect setting for a page-turning story. Without giving too much away, it’s into this dusty tinderbox that we plunge in Ingrained—as a single phone call sets the team @method.studio forth on a high-stakes adventure. Will the skills and techniques we’ve learned over the years, the wild Scottish wood and the inspirational forest setting be enough to help us find a way out? Can we save the workshop in time? And will I be able to show my father that I’ve got what it takes to follow in his footsteps? You’ll have to read the book to find out… Thanks again to my longtime collaborator, Luke (@edinburghfilmco ), my brother Bobby (@robobinson ) for the music, Marc Millar for the cover image and the team @eccobooks for making this all possible. #woodwork #woodcraft #woodshop #forest #carpentry #memoir #naturewriting #Ingrained

For more than half my life I have made a rewarding (if rather uneven) living as a designer and woodworker. Trades I learned from my father—now one of the UK’s foremost Master Wood Carvers—and that I am lucky enough to share with my wife (@marisa.giannasi.art ), with whom I have worked closely for almost fifteen years. I’ve made all manner of things from all manner of woods, for clients that range from local families to some of the world’s most iconic luxury brands, in a career that has taken me from a cramped country workshop on the east coast of Scotland, to galleries and museums as far afield as London, Paris and Shanghai. (To discover more of this work head over to @method.studio ) It’s fair to say I owe a great debt to woodwork, and I firmly believe it’s as fine a way to make a living as any you’ll find, so I’ve long searched for a book that brings it to life on the page. Something evocative, colourful and sensual, immersing the reader in the largely hidden world of the carpenter—perhaps even inspiring one or two to pick up the chisels themselves. But though a handful of excellent publications do exist, I’ve never been able to find quite what I was looking for. So eventually, I did what I always do when that happens: I tried to make one myself… Thanks again to my longtime collaborator, Luke (@edinburghfilmco ), my brother Bobby (@robobinson ) for the music, Marc Millar for the cover image and the team @eccobooks for making this all possible. #woodwork #woodcraft #woodshop #forest #carpentry #memoir #naturewriting #Ingrained

Greetings from Scotland, where the teeth of autumn are finally beginning to bite, I’m Callum Robinson (@callum.robinson.writes ), author of Ingrained. Having been handed the reins by the fine folks at HarperCollins, you find me walking the last of four country miles separating my home from my workshop, just as the early morning sun is filtering up through the trees, and tremendously excited about spending the day with you. Ingrained is a memoir, of a sort, but it is also a nature book (written like a novel) plunging readers into a world of forests, family, and rugged Scottish landscapes. And just as I wanted you to smell the sawdust, hear the birdsong and see the cold on your breath between its pages, I wanted to bring a little of that magic to our time together today, too. With that in mind, I’ve roped in a few old friends to help – because if a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. Hopefully these posts will give you an authentic flavour of the book, and of its author. Time zones (and craftsman’s early starts) permitting, I’d be delighted to answer any questions you may have over the course of the day, so please do add these to the comments section, tagging my Instagram, and I shall do my best to reply. Heartfelt thanks to my longtime collaborator, Luke (@edinburghfilmco ) and my musical brother Bobby (@robobinson ) for helping make today extra special. Thanks also to Marc Millar for the beautiful cover image and to the team @eccobooks for making this all possible. #woodwork #woodcraft #woodshop #forest #carpentry #memoir #naturewriting #Ingrained @callum.robinson.writes @method.studio