Working in the woodshop where both his father and grandfather worked before him, a shop which is attached to the house where he grew up in the small town of Abbeyfeale in County Limerick, Ireland, Liam Flynn has established an international reputation turning vessels from green wood. Flynn’s turnings are arrestingly beautiful in their overall shapes, but the stamp of his authorship is also evident in the freehand fluting he often applies to them off the lathe, and in the asymmetrical double-lip he often creates at a vessel’s mouth.
Despite having at least three generations of carpenters and joiners in his family tree, Flynn never had a teacher in turning. He bought his first small lathe when he was just into his teens and learned to use it by trial and error and through reading magazines and books. While other turners may employ highly figured wood or complex techniques to distinguish their work, Flynn hews to a simpler path. Using plain-grained, local oak and a handful of straightforward turning and carving techniques, he relies on his well-trained eye and hand to elevate his work.
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The openness with which he expresses the process of discovery is inspiring. His work is a lesson in seeing.
What a terrific piece. Thanks very much, we don't get to see such treasures often!
Well done Liam, brilliant work! I love the way he has developed his work from scratch with trial and error being the main method of learning. Some brilliant pieces there.
Very inspirational , just shows you don't need loads of fancy kit and expensive timber to make fabulous turnings.
What lovely workmanship - just aesthetically perfect.
Such a practical and unassuming chap. I love the approach of seeing something in a piece of wood that others would dismiss as only suitable for utilitarian purposes.
Truly inspiring.
This video of Liam Flynn's woodturning is magnificent! It's so refreshing to see a contemporary artisan who is true to the wood media while pushing the lines in his profiles to ever more captivating profiles. Bravo!