At the heart of The Steading, making continues.
For many years, David Lightly has been closely connected to the Tim Stead Trust, not only as a master woodworker, but as someone who carries forward a way of thinking, making and living rooted in Tim’s practice.
A former apprentice of Tim Stead, David now runs The WoodNeuk workshop at The Steading. From restoring elements of the building, including the Sunroom doors, to mentoring emerging makers, David plays a vital role in keeping skills, knowledge and material understanding alive within the Trust.
The Tim stead trust is excited to launch our new website, with new updates to follow. An important part of that is @thewoodneuk where legacy is something lived, shared and made each day. For workshop enquiries please contact @thewoodneuk
Video by Nicholas Moffat
Recently we have been lucky enough to acquire a collection of original Tim Stead chairs. They are in need of some TLC in order to really let the wood sing, and that’s where you come in!
We are looking for volunteers to come to The Steading for a day in October to clean and oil these beautiful chairs. Lunch will be provided and, you will have the first opportunity to purchase at a special “thank you” price, original Tim Stead chairs and tables.
Limited availability of pieces for sale, all proceeds are in aid of preserving and protecting The Steading and its collection & Archive.
Pieces will also be available to Tim Stead Trust Members.
Membership is £30 a year and includes a free copy of With The Grain in year one and a pair of tour tickets for you or a friend/family member in year two. Membership includes discounts on workshops and joining our private Archive and Collection with exclusive access to pieces for sale (for a limited time only).
Get in touch: [email protected]
Sales enquiries / notes of interest: [email protected]
Photography courtesy of @twentiethcenturyantiques where you will find an incredible collection of original Tim Stead pieces 🪑
Workshop to be led by @thewoodneuk The only trust certified official present day maker of Tim Stead & Workshop of Tim Stead furniture.
Would you like to spend a day helping us care for our incredible collection of Tim Stead small sculptures at The Steading?
From wooden puzzles to axe head sculptures and everything in between, we are looking for those interested in exploring Tims Legacy by directly assisting us with preserving and conserving the Tim Stead Legacy.
The trust will provide a glorious lunch for all volunteers on the day whilst unearthing more from our archive and collection. Works will include some previously unseen by the public, as well as ‘work in progress’ and of course the infamous skara brae models.
The dates are Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th August 9.15am to 5.15pm with two refreshment breaks and one hour lunch break. Participants must be over the age of 16. No previous experience or skills required, everything will be provided for you.
Participation booking is via eventbrite at the cost of £10 per person to enable us to organise the day sufficiently. All participants will receive a Tim stead trust key ring and lunch in the heart of the steading alongside all refreshments.
If travel is a barrier to those interested further a field, TST can reimburse reasonable fuel expenses by advance request.
For queries & questions please email [email protected]
A wonderful result!
From Cherry to Walnut, an exploration of grain and form. A day well spent spoon making with the incredibly talented @louisecforbes 🥄🌳
Yesterday evening was a special moment here at The Steading.
We concluded our first series of 6 Micro Workshops. Responding to artworks and the experience of The Steading, the workshops explored Pyrographic Printing with Wood, Intuitive Drawing with Charcoal, Carving & Mark Making on Sculpture, Coil Building with Texture, Burr Elm Collage & Willow Weaving.
The Steading continues to provide a platform for inspiration and creation, not only to those naturally creative but all those that choose to attend. To find out more about our upcoming workshops please sign up to our newsletter or become a TST member for £30 a year.
Thank you to the contributing Artists @davidlightly@thewoodneuk@hwpots@redbraespottery@rhgoldsworthy_art@katiewarner_basketweaver 💜
Today is the last day to donate to help fund the upcoming feature film by @trixpixmedia (closes at 4pm today)
With rewards such as tours, books, planting trees & even a sculpture by raffle, there are so many treats for contributors as a huge thank you for enabling the production of Tim Stead: Magician with Wood!
Photo ID: Tim Stead situated in his former office at The Steading, Blainslie.
Our wooden book library, currently just over 80 books in the collection!
If you would like to support our work, our Patrons’ Wooden Book Library continues to grow, and Tim’s former apprentice David Lightly prepares the books ready for donors to have their special accreditation engraved upon them.
Alternatively, you can all join our Membership Scheme. An annual subscription of £30, is open to all and includes a copy of ‘With The Grain’ and tickets to visit The Steading amongst other benefits. If you or a loved one would like more information, please contact us at [email protected]
MAKING
TAKING
BREAKING
WAKING
to change the form
create a shape
is like drawing rabbits out of hats
without the tricks there is tension
between destroying the given piece
its partial destruction
and the moment where it draws itself
together as new
making footprints not scars
imposing a form but with harmony
eroding with tools and imagination
compelled by the excitement
of creating something which wasn’t there before
realigning and composing the elements
in moment like music that echoes on
Poem by Tim Stead, taken from Light & Dark, a collection of poems published posthumously.
As a keen environmentalist, alongside raising funds to create the UK’s first community woodland in the Scottish Borders Tim Stead also helped form the Carrifran rewilding project at the turn of the century.
Ownership of resources such as woodlands in community hands, are enabling and sustaining local economies, this is much needed, especially in the current economic climate and for such humble roots in DIY culture, the story of how this all began is a vital one to share.
@trixpixmedia Tim Stead: Magicianwith Wood aims to do exactly that and whilst the initial target has been met, additional funds raised will go to screening and marketing the film nationally.
Tim Stead died in 2000 aged only 48 years.
But much of his ouvre continues to permeate conversations in art and craft. A tangible result of this, was Wooplaw Community Woodlands, his pioneering & progressive idea started a great movement that has now spread throughout the UK.
At present there are over 60 community woodlands in Scotland alone! Each different, they have varying degrees of emphasis on promoting local employment, education, art, public access, wildlife, sustainability etc. Crucially the common factor is that the local community manages them for the local community.
Tim Stead is buried at Wooplaw, you can visit his grave in Easter Park. Beside the grave is a sculpture in burr elm of Tim by Russian artist Eduard Bersudsky – who was a long-time friend of Tim and his family. In the open space nearby, a massive totem pole carved from a Sitka spruce felled at Wooplaw is also dedicated to Tim’s memory.
His final resting place is within a willow woven coffin, with the stone you see depicted her, created by Scottish Artist & Poet Ian Hamilton Finlay, who himself left an incredible work of art open to the public - @littlespartaihf
A photo from the archive, of David Lightly working on one of the Piper Alpha Chairs.
After working as an apprentice for Tim Stead, and running the The Workshop of Tim Stead for 25 years, David Lightly now runs The Wood Neuk, in Tim’s original workshop here in Blainslie.
With years experience of producing high end bespoke furniture from the workshop here in Blainslie, David continues to create beautiful sculpture and highly crafted furniture from only the best quality native hardwoods. A principle instilled within him from training with Tim Stead.
Whether a Tim Stead original, a Workshop of Tim Stead piece or a Wood Neuk piece, the furniture will last many lifetimes of being loved, touched and admired.
Check out @thewoodneuk / @davidlightly for present day creations straight from the workshop.
Help us to discover the locations and stories of over 200/365 Tim Stead Ace Heads that funded the creation Wooplaw Community Woodland.
Sam Stead son of Tim Stead said: “In a way it’s keeping my father’s name alive. Each of the 365 axeheads is unique. Each has been labelled with a day of the year and the type of hardwood from which it is made and signed by Tim. The fact that the axehead is made out of wood, not metal, appealed to my father’s sense of irony and the poet in him.”
Tim himself once said: “The axe-head is something which I’ve always liked. It’s a most beautiful shape and something which links form and function perfectly. The axe has been used by man for millions of years – it’s a very early tool, one which is used with rhythm, rather than the chain-saw which is much more destructive.”
If you know of an axe perhaps in your family or friend’s possession, let us know!
