Island Life Magazine Ltd April / May 2016 | Page 51

FEATURE

Gift of a course turned
Andy’s life around
T

he gift of a two-day wood
turning course in 1989 sparked
an unexpected passion in Andy
Fortune’s life – and ultimately led to his
present career as an expert craftsman
with some famous-name clients.
Now a registered professional turner and
owner of the Mulberry Tree Wood Turnery
in Arreton, Andy discovered how he could
fashion bowls and platters from the most
unpromising pieces of timber found lying
on the forest floor or in friends’ wood piles.
“It’s amazing what can be made from
even the most rotten and damaged piece
of wood,” he says.
“In fact, the most stunning pieces can
come from the most unlikely log, and it’s
always a pleasure to find out what lies
beneath.”
After attending that initial course in
Derbyshire in 1989, Andy only managed
to get a lathe of his own in 1996 - but
from that moment on, it became clear
that this was going to be more than a
passing fad for him.
“I used to take the dog for a walk in
the forest near where I lived in Ivinghoe,
Bedfordshire, and I found a Beech tree
that had been cut into logs and left insitu. The logs were the ideal size for using
on my new lathe, so I took a couple home
and made them into bowls.
“This is when I discovered the beauty
of ‘Spalting’, a natural figuring in timber
caused by fungal decay. So I ended up
over a period of weeks collecting the rest
of the logs.”
The patterning and variations in colour
that the Spalting causes can be very
special. It normally occurs once the tree
has been felled, and is part of the process
that degrades and rots the timber. If
however the wood is taken from the wet
conditions found on the forest floor and
then dried, the timber is stabilised and
can be used for wood turning.
Having moved to the Isle of Wight
in 2000, Andy originally worked as a
plumber but by 2012, he decided the time

was ripe for a career change. After being
accepted onto a government scheme for
start-up businesses, he decided to take
up wood turning full time. Hence The
Mulberry Tree Wood Turnery was born,
and opened its doors in January 2013.
Since then, Andy has been accepted
onto the Register of Professional Turners
and the Craft Council’s directory. He’s
demonstrated at the Ideal Home Show,
made bespoke turned finials for Alan
Titchmarsh’s boat house in Cowes, and
some wooden boards for TV chef Adam
Byatt that were used on the BBC’s Great
British Menu programme.

In 2014 he moved his workshop to
Arreton Barns Craft Village and over
the last two years has steadily built
the business, introducing timber sales
and wood turning courses which have
proved popular. The Mulberry Tree Wood
Turnery is also the main IOW agent for
Record Power tools and equipment,
Chestnut Finishing Products and Robert
Sorby wood working tools.
For more information, check out the
website at www.mtwoodturnery.com,
visit Andy on Facebook at www.facebook.
com/themulberrytreewoodturnery or call
the workshop on 01983 472696.
www.visitilife.com

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