Page 23 - Kentculture Creative Magazine

kentculture
folkestonecreative.co.uk
Summer 2016
Richard
Tozer
RichardTozer,artist, furniture maker, restorer and entrepreneur who transforms damaged antiques discusses the woes of not taking a before and after photo.
“Magic Man”
If I had a penny for every me my wife says, “that piece of furniture looks amazing ! I hope you have taken a before and a er?” I would now have lots of pennies.
Take a Photo
For some inexplicable reason I can not engage camera and project...but I am trying to learn!
The problem starts par cularly badly when I have a restora on project that is excep onally challenging, now don’t get me wrong, excep onally challenging is a good thing, but generally takes more planning and a great deal of thought before engaging with the task set before thee.
This process also means that the project is le collec ng dust in the corner of the workshop, as if, to the untrained eye it would seem forgo en.
Then! one day with inspira on in one hand and NO a camera in the other, it is plucked from its dusty haven and set upon with vigorous excitement.So I reiterate! my crea ve juices and concentra on, do not include the part of the brain that says, “oh I must take a photo”!
Regrets
I do though have regrets, o en these projects I men on that are set before me, are so close to the graveyard for abused an ques and misused objet d’art, that a photograph of their damaged unwanted state is generally considered a useful record of interest.
There was such a moment earlier this year, of an epic failure of missed “before” photo. This
was further drummed home the moment my customer beamed and exclaimed in her excitement
, that I must be a magic man,
for resurrec ng a very sorry worktable, from what looked like a certain an quarian death.
The worktable didn’t immediately resemble anything of beauty,
but as my eyes focused on the wreckage before me, I realised that this was a very ne Victorian ebonised and silk decorated piece of ne quality. It had however decayed into a disabled state, that arrived in a dozen pieces carried ceremoniously in a cardboard box, with numerous intricate parts missing.
Missing parts included: pre y brass galleries, gold silk and sec ons of ebonised frame work.
The gold silk had deep embroidered mo fs, that had been mostly moth eaten and perished, so much so, that it just crumbled by touch and needed to be re built from scratch. The lid had a brass gallery surround incorpora ng
a chinoiserie scene of oriental shermen and huts which was damaged and in need of TLC.
The commission was me consuming and terri cally engaging, so engaging, that once focused, the thought of poin ng a camera lens and clicking an image of any type, “good” or “poor”, didn’t even get a thought.
Just a warning then, in case your thinking of producing a challenge at my workshop door... please bring a camera and I will supply the dust and some magic!
Richard Tozer
image: ©themeweavers
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RICHARD TOZER’S FURNITURE WORKSHOP
Wembdon Farm Bower Road Smeeth
Ashford Kent TN25 6SZ
Telephone: 01303 813824 or 07818 032088 www.tozerfurniture.co.uk
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