Scott Irvine

SCOTT IRVINE was born in Edinburgh in 1970.  He was introduced to woodworking at an early age in his grandfather’s workshop. Throughout his childhood Scott could always be found in the garden shed with some blocks of wood and constructing his early creations. He left school at the age of 16 with good qualifications and advice to follow a different career to the one he had already set his heart on. However, he decided to fulfil his passion of working with wood and trained as a carpenter in a local firm in Balerno.His participation in intricate and specialised designs encouraged a great respect for and understanding of wood, taking it beyond its expected limits in terms of both craftsmanship and finish.

In 1993, following a paralysing illness (Guillain Barre Syndrome) which unfortunately left Scott with some residual weakness and pain in his feet, he was unable to return to carpentry as his full time profession. Having a great devotion to working with wood, he was determined to carry it on, which led him into the art of woodturning and carving which has been entirely self-taught.His work is now being exhibited hroughout Scotland and the UK with some European and American exhibitions too. His designs continue to surprise and delight an ever growing number of private and corporate collectors of his work. His ability to challenge the predictable function of the basic form of a bowl has led him to unite wood with different materials such as metals, fused glass and stone, creating a dramatic fusion of effects.