60 seconds with … Jarrad Belton

To mark our 60th anniversary in 2023, we highlighted 60 of the industry’s most promising young professionals through our‘60 for 60’ campaign. To discover how they view the trade, Furniture News is inviting these rising stars to share their stories –this month it’s furniture maker and tutor Jarrad Belton.

In one sentence, describe what you do …

I create unique, statement-piece furniture using sustainable timber from well-managed forests. I also teach students in the way of the blade at the Farnham School of Furniture Making.

What makes you well suited to the role?

I am incredibly passionate about what I do for a living, and being able to impart that with others is one of the great rewards of my role.

How did you come to work in the furniture industry

It would seem fate. I was originally considering training as a motorcycle mechanic when I left school, but when I viewed the college, the mechanic workshop felt cold and dark. I happened to walk past the carpentry workshop which was bright, warm and full of the sound of handsaws cutting and the smell of fresh plane shavings. It was much more attractive to me – I was completely enraptured.

It was from that day on I trained as a carpenter, working part time whilst studying. I enjoyed the first two years so much I stayed on for a third year of joinery, which wasn’t compulsory.

After then, working on site as a carpenter for a number of years, I discovered that I wanted more refinement to my work. I saved up enough money working part time at a local sawmill where I gained fundamental knowledge of timber, and then proceeded to pay to restudy furniture making (I was probably around 20 at this time). I had built up a small portfolio of work before retraining, so when I went for the interview at the college I was put in for the third year rather than starting from the beginning. I was thrown in at the deep end, but, as a wise person once told me, “a calm sea never made a good sailor”.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in college, and after completing the course I went back to the sawmill part time for two days a week and then made furniture for the rest of the week, taking on as much commission work as I could and exhibiting at as many events as I could afford.

After building a name for myself, I left the sawmill and became self employed, making furniture for private clients and galleries. I then started work part time at weekends with a furniture maker, Aidan McEvoy, in the craft town of Farnham. This led to me to now being an employed member of the company, and Aidan’s apprentice at the Farnham School of Furniture Making.

I absolutely love what I do for a living and feel so lucky to have found it so early in life. It is what I am most passionate about.

What does being named one of the ‘60 for 60’ mean to you?

I’m stoked! I feel very grateful to have my dedication to the craft recognised. I think it’s super important to celebrate the up-and-coming craftspeople of furniture making and being able to network with like-minded individuals at the ‘60 for 60’ event was incredibly beneficial.

To read the full article on the Furniture News website, click here.