Karl Watkins MSDC

After spending more than thirty years developing his design and making skills in a range of disciplines including education, Karl left teaching in 2023 to set up Solace in Wood. He returned to woodturning, a craft he first tried as a 14 year old at school and quickly became increasingly inspired by how green (unseasoned) wood changes shape as it dries out.

Deliberately incised with fine slices, the pieces he makes invite movement from within. As the wood dries and breathes, it begins to shift – subtly twisting, warping, and waving in response to its environment. These evolving contours echo the rhythms of growth and decay, a dialogue between form and formlessness. Like the woodland it came from, the pieces will forever be ‘turning still,’ continuing to move with the rhythm of the world.

He celebrates the organic and unpredictable nature of the material itself and particularly enjoys the challenge of turning green wood almost paper-thin to encourage the pieces to twist and turn naturally as they dry out to produce exciting and often unexpected results.

Exhibitions

• July 2025 Atelier Open Summer Show, Brighton
• June 2025 Craft Fair Bovey Tracey
• March 2025 Craft Fair Cheltenham
• January 2025 Crafts Council member
• November 2024 Made Brighton
• October 2024 Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, Manchester
• September 2024 Craft Fair Wales, Cardigan
• August 2024 New Makers Guild Members Exhibition, Craft in the Bay, Cardiff,
• August 2024 Admitted to The Makers Guild In Wales, Cardiff
• March 2024 Craft Fair Cheltenham

Galleries

• Queen Street Gallery, Neath
• Albany Gallery, Cardiff
• Makers Guild in Wales, Craft in the Bay, Cardiff
• Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown
• Hawthorne Gallery, Hay on Wye
• Fitch & Fellows, Thame