John Makepeace
Have you ever walked into a building well furnished, well designed and well maintained? Or have you ever walked into a home and just fallen in awe at the décor? I have and I know you probably have, too. Furniture has a way of speaking to us in terms that words can not express. It brings out beauty to a broken down room; it brings out certain emotions of peace, calm, tranquility and a cool mood where sadness and gloom lingers. There are many furniture designers in this
world but there are only a few great designers. John Makepeace is one of the greatest designers in the 21st century. His works are renowned worldwide for their beauty, unique nature and prestige. Here is a little bit about him.
A British citizen who has a keen sense of creativity and style, he first saw fine furniture being made when he was 11years old and he fell in love. Craftsmanship came naturally to him and his thirst for design led him to work his way around the United States before starting his own workshop, The Makepeace Workshop. The workshop grew in leaps and bounds and was predominantly meant for designing furniture for private clients in Europe and the United States.
He preferred to create furniture from precious hardwoods and thus he is well known for his great works of art, specifically the “Knot Chair”. This chair is made from elm and beautiful oak. They bleach the wood to appear very light. His “Millennium Chair”, made from holly-wood is a beautiful ivory color. The “Trine Chair” is made entirely of yew and oak tree. Many of his designs have been put in several galleries all over the world for viewing and they happen to fetch quiet a penny.
He greatly enjoyed working on wooden furniture which led him to act as a design consultant, and he traveled widely to India, Japan and Australia to offer his services. This great fate led him to become a founding member of the UK’s Crafts Council. His workshop thus expanded and he purchased Parnham in 1976 to get enough space to accommodate the growing order book, to showcase his work and to educate those who were interested in furniture making.
The college was mainly to educate students on making furniture, designing and business skills for those wishing to become professional furniture makers. In 1983 the environmentalists and economists raised issues about the increasing depletion rate of the indigenous timber. Thus he bought the Hooke Park, a 350acre woodland plot, and founded the college that everyone knows as “Hooke Park College”. Unfortunately he realized that this was not the concept he had when starting his Makepeace workshop. In 2000 he resigned as Director and went back to pursue his passion for design and furniture making.
To date he is still known as one of the greatest woodwork designers in the world and his works are still regarded as some of the best. So what are you waiting for, go get one for yourself and bring some life into your home!