Environmental statement

To give someone a wooden bowl that will be enjoyed and used for years to come, made with my own hands from an abundant, natural and renewable resource gives me a real sense of satisfaction.

Lasting a lifetime

My wooden bowls are carefully made from native hardwoods so they will stand up to a lifetime of daily use and, with some basic care and love, will look all the better for it.

Environmental highlights

All my bowls are made by hand with wood that is sourced very locally, most often literally walking distance.
All the wood comes from trees which have been damaged in storms or are being pruned for other reasons.
My small scale production does not overtax the local forest environment. In fact, being processed on site and having all chip and micro-organisms returned to the soil builds humus, captures carbon, and adds to the ecology.
I use quality tools that will last more than a lifetime (most of my carving chisels were 2nd hand when I purchased them and will one day outlast me).
The woodturning studio and bowl gallery are solar powered, as is our off-grid “solar house”.
All finishes I use are food-safe non-toxic plant-based oils.
The only byproduct (or “waste”) from the production of your wooden bowl is wood shavings. Some are used for packaging of your bowl but most head straight into the orchard, garden and forest to be used as mulch.
No plastic products are used in any of my packaging.
Even though I always aim to make bowls that will last a lifetime, accidents do happen and sometimes wood does crack. If something has happened to a bowl, I can repair it so their life with you can continue.

Each bowl gives you a connection to one of the world’s most important natural protectors of our planet, our native forests.

I love the idea of moving toward items that you can look after and repair, that will last long enough to build an attachment to – giving you joy for years rather than just during the process of buying it……

I never used to think about myself as being particularly green. I guess I assumed everybody else had the same appreciation and concerns for the world that I did.

I take pride in knowing that what I create is as good as I can make it. So my wooden bowls can be used and enjoyed for many years to come.

What is ebonised wood?

The black ebonised look I have on some of my bowls is actually a very old traditional technique to darken wood. Ebonizing got its name from its traditional use: turning wood black to appear more like ebony, a rare, dense and durable, naturally insect resistant wood...

What makes a good fruit bowl

What sort of fruit bowl looks good? Does the type of bowl affect how long fruit lasts? Or is it just a simple question of deciding what size fruit bowl is right for me? There're lots of questions and plenty of ways you can look at it but the best one I know of is...

Bowl Art Gallery & Turning Studio

Gavin has his home, turning studio, and bowl art gallery on Kawau Island. Their house and gallery, called Tŷ Pren (“Wood House” in Welsh) is just that: made of wood - a combination of hardwoods, macrocarpa and plywood. Everywhere you look is wood with wooden floors,...

The process of making a wooden bowl

Finding the wood... I'm incredibly lucky that I live on an island covered in native trees: with the coastline dotted with Pohutukawa, hidden valleys of Puriri, and Kanuka as far as the eye can see. I find most of the wood I use after big storms have brought down...

Kawau Island Attractions & Transport

What's special about Kawau Island? A lot of people are interested when I tell them I live on Kawau Island. Kawau is one of the many small islands that dot the east coast of the, much larger, North Island of New Zealand. We have some 90 permanent residents, which makes...

A family heirloom in the making

What will you give your kids? Hopefully, your time and your love but, like photos from your childhood, there's a place for keepsakes too. For each of us it will be a different thing: a lovely wooden chair or a casserole dish, but it’s something we will really cherish,...