Murray spent thirty years designing and manufacturing equipment according to industrial standards and codes. In 2001, he completed the Fine Furniture course at Camosun College with the hope of applying his previous skills to wood rather than steel, and to design and build custom items with more emphasis on artistic values rather than industrial purposes.

Murray is interested in the Arts and Crafts style of simple, well-built, unornamented and functional pieces. He enjoys the work of Gustav Stickley, Frank Lloyd Wright and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. "I enjoy showing the natural characteristics and colour of woods and trying to find balance between an item's proportions and its purpose(s)."

The exterior design of Murray's piece, "Grandfather Clock," was inspired by a hall clock shown in an issue of Gustav Stickley's early 1900's magazine, "The Craftsman." Murry designed his piece to be functional not only as a clock but also as a wine rack and storage for liquor bottles. Consistant with the Arts and Crafts style, the clock is of quarter-sawn white oak and employs mostly mortise and tenon joinery.

He currenty owns and operates an 850 square foot studio attached to his residence under the name Ferndean Studios and welcomes anyone interested in his work or woodworking in general to visit or call.

Murray Tomkins
tom4@shaw.ca
(250) 642-2151

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