Turned by the tide

03 December 2020

Turned by the tide By Becks Treharne, Biophilic Urbanism Consultant

Before I tell you how Turnedbythetide started, I’d like you to meet my dad, CJ.

Let’s go back to 1976. This was the year my dad unknowingly embarked on his life-long woodworking journey. He was 17 and living with his parents in Llanelli, a small town in south Wales. His father, my grandad, had a small workshop nestled underneath the main house and it was here that my dad’s passion for turning was born. Over the years his interest never wavered, so when it came time to move into his own place, he brought with him the many tools and machines that he’d grown up using. He transformed the garage into a dedicated workroom and has continued turning since.

As a young girl, I recall the first time I saw dad come in from his workroom, excitement lighting up his face. From behind his back, he revealed to me a small wooden cat neatly sat on its hind legs, tail in the air. I remember marvelling at the skill and craftsmanship of this little bookshelf ornament and asked if I could keep it.

It wasn’t a week later that nearly every shelf in our house was sporting a beautifully crafted wooden cat, either sitting, stretching, lying down or hanging off the edge…. and this is where the story starts.

From that day, maybe after seeing the joy in my young eyes, or possibly more so because he simply enjoyed being in the workroom, he unleashed a newfound creativity. Living so close to the water and having been brought up surrounded by nature, this creativity focussed on his connection with the natural world and all the beauty it holds. He started making an array of beautiful pots and bowls, animal puzzles and ornaments, seascapes, dragons, shells, fish, sleeping animals, jewellery stands and so much more. And since his retirement last year, he’s enjoyed making bespoke pieces or upcycling furniture for people too.

The thing is, as beautiful as these pieces are, he never makes just one. So, a couple of bowls turned into a whole cupboard’s worth, seascapes appeared in every room of the house, wand after wand appeared as if by magic, and we have enough cheeseboards to serve the five thousand. It didn’t matter that we gave items as gifts or used them around the house, the fact was that too many were being stored away, not able to be enjoyed. This is when Turnedbythetide was born.

And it was born for two reasons. The first was because the things dad makes are beautifully biophilic and connect people with the natural world. The second is because they bring me joy – I know they do the same for others - and given the current global pandemic, I felt the world needed more moments of joy.

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Ultimately then, Turnedbythetide was created to give people more opportunities to interact with nature in all its forms. It is about bringing nature indoors in the form of natural and sustainably reclaimed materials, animal shapes, colours, patterns, biomimicry, placescapes, naturalistic shapes and forms, information richness, organised complexity, evocation of nature and much more. These attributes of biophilic design are crucial to connecting us with the complexities of the natural world and Turnedbythetide products embody an array of these, to reignite this connection.

Especially in this new work-from-home world, this connection will be more important than ever. We will likely spend more than 95% of our time indoors, so creating spaces that positively impact our mental and physical health & wellbeing are essential.

In addition to this, we create Turnedbythetide products using mostly reclaimed materials and try to be as waste free as possible. All of the wood we use is donated by friends or family, is old furniture being repurposed or has come from a beach clean. Any odd wood left over from making a product is collected and put into one of the many draws in the workshop. We find a variety of uses for these, especially in our seascapes. Any other leftovers, such as wood chippings, tree bark, small odd sized logs and offcuts dad saved up so we could build a honeycomb shaped bug hotel and bee b&b this summer. It has been incredibly popular with our local wildlife and we can’t wait to see how it flourishes over the coming years.

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We also have two large compost heaps that dad has been feeding since I was young. Any wood that cannot be used in the workshop, nor can it be used as firewood is subsequently mowed down and composted, ready to be used as next year’s fertiliser. The ashes from wood that makes it onto the fire are also added to this heap or put directly onto flowerbeds.

Where we can, we also try to salvage nails, screws, bolts and other things we find in the wood that we reclaim. We have a number of draws for these pieces too!

Turnedbythetide isn’t going to change the world, but we’re doing our bit for the environment while spreading a little joy in bringing people closer to nature and the things they love about it. Take time to notice how simple, nature-based things in your home give you this feeling: the flames in the fireplace, the colour of your wall painting, the natural daylight and the changing shadows that it creates. All these are attributes of nature that can subconsciously evoke memories of the natural world and can positively impact you in more ways than you wood think (excuse the pun).

Ends

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