For more than half my life I have scratched 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, with whom I have worked closely for over 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.

Quietly, though (as anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of an email from me knows only too well), I have long been just as passionate about making things and telling stories on the page, as I am on the workbench. As a writer I’m delighted to have contributed to publications including The Guardian, The Observer and The Scotsman, and my debut book, a memoir combining my two great passions, Ingrained: The Making of a Craftsman is out now in the UK, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA - where it is a National Bestseller.