In Focus | Curio Studio

Introducing our latest exclusive, the Kingfisher, handmade by Tom Wilson of Curio Studio. Discover the design process behind the refined, handcrafted wooden birds.

2022

In Focus | Curio Studio

Curio Studio started to take shape in 2013 when practicing architect Tom Wilson was looking for a more holistic approach to his creative practice. With a desire for design and making to inform each other, he began to produce hand-held objects for his family and friends, which later developed into a series of commissions.

Using natural, responsibly sourced materials, Tom creates small, beautifully crafted objects produced in modest batches in his Bristol-based studio. Often working with offcuts, which is perfectly demonstrated by the Arctic Tern, made with wenge reclaimed from the old restaurant floor of the National Theatre in London.

With a penchant for animals, Tom's creations are an elegant exercise in reduction, each form pared back to restrained lines and exacting proportions. Yet each is unique due to the unpredictable nature of the wood's grain.

Each bird gracefully rests on a wooden perch, deftly shaped to allow it to playfully nestle in various positions, bringing the object to life.

Follow us into the Curio Studio workshop.

This summer, twentytwentyone commissioned Tom to make our very own exclusive.
A range of birds were explored for the project before we settled on the refined Kingfisher.

The elegant design is hand-carved in naturally contrasting hardwoods, walnut, sycamore, and yew, with the introduction of vibrant slivers of blue to capture the Kingfisher's jewel-tone plumage.

Each piece of wood is cut and sanded, then assembled into a block from which the bird's profile is cut. The eye-catching blue pinstripes are achieved by slicing, staining, and then laminating the layers of sycamore back together. The birds are then finished in oil and buffed back to a soft, tactile sheen. Each Kingfisher gracefully sits upon a walnut perch.

At twentytwentyone, we stock a flock of Curio Studio's birds - the Artic Tern, Robin, and exclusive Kingfisher; discover the range here.