Taking the right turn

Joey Richardson's artwork is so exquisite that the Royal Warrant Holders Association asked her to create a gift for the Queen. Serena Shores meets the master craftswoman taking the ancient art of woodturning to new heights Photographs 

- Alex Bradbury

ENTERING the shiplap-clad studios of one of the UK’s foremost craftswomen, I anticipated the spiced aroma of wood shavings, but not the whine of what sounds very much like a dentist’s drill. Master woodturner Joey Richardson, who is based near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire, is piercing the fine filigree work on one of her turned forms, carefully producing images through negative space. Her delicate wooden creations are collected and exhibited around the world—30 years of dedication and a quest for perfection ensure each hand-crafted piece is exquisite.

‘Nature, and more specifically wood, is the driving force in my sculptural practice, influencing my themes and guiding my expression,’ she explains. ‘It shapes me and, in turn, I shape it.’

At once animated and quietly focused, Mrs Richardson leads me to her turning studio, reaching for a traditional gouge to shale, or shape, the curves in the wood as it turns on the lathe. Her tools transcend the centuries. ‘My craft has evolved through both the exploration and mastering of turning, together with new, innovative skills, applying carving, texturing and airbrushing. This exciting combination of tradition and contemporary practices is informed by the past as it progresses into the future.’