Try Something New With Aaron Sterritt

There are loads of opportunities to try something new here in the Cairngorms, and if you fancy slowing down, getting creative and making something with your own hands, a woodworking course with Aaron Sterritt is one we can wholeheartedly recommend.

Aaron is a furniture maker and woodworker with a beautiful woodland workshop overlooking the River Findhorn at Logie Estate. As well as creating his own furniture and sculpture, he shares his skills through a programme of green woodworking courses and workshops.

It is a pretty special setting in which to learn a new skill.

Meet the maker

Aaron's contemporary furniture is inspired by the natural characteristics of the wood he works with, and we love that you can really see the material in his finished pieces.

Rather than trying to make every piece of timber perfectly uniform, Aaron works with the grain, natural curves and individual characteristics of the wood. Crooks and bends that might otherwise be discarded can become part of the design, giving his furniture a wonderfully individual quality.

His work includes chairs, tables, benches and stools as well as sculptural pieces, with designs that feel contemporary while still having a strong connection to traditional furniture making.

Aaron also works to commission, creating individual pieces of furniture designed to make the most of the timber he uses and the skills and techniques he has developed over years of making.

If you are not quite ready to pick up a drawknife yourself, his furniture and sculpture are well worth a look in their own right.

What is green woodworking?

Green woodworking uses freshly cut wood which still contains much of its natural moisture. Because the wood is softer at this stage, it can be worked using traditional hand tools and techniques such as splitting, cleaving, shaving and shaping.

Aaron uses locally sourced timber wherever possible and has developed an approach that responds to the sort of wood found in the Highlands, rather than looking for perfectly straight and uniform pieces.

It is an idea rooted in traditional Highland furniture making, where makers used the materials available to them and incorporated the natural forks, bends and curves of timber into the things they made.

For Aaron, the process of making is every bit as important as the finished object.

Have a go yourself

If Aaron's work inspires you to have a go, his courses offer the chance to learn some of those same traditional skills for yourself.

His programme changes throughout the year, but workshops can range from smaller green woodworking projects to making your own piece of furniture.

You might find yourself starting with a log and finishing with a stool, side table or bench, learning how to select and split the timber before shaping it with traditional hand tools and bringing everything together.

Other workshops explore different green woodworking techniques and projects, including shrink pots.

A shrink pot is made by hollowing out a section of fresh wood and fitting a dry wooden base. As the green wood dries, it shrinks around the base and holds it firmly in place.

Simple in principle. Incredibly satisfying to make.

We've tried it ourselves

Having completed one of Aaron's shrink pot making courses, we can personally recommend it.

There is something incredibly satisfying about spending the day making with your hands, particularly somewhere as beautiful as Aaron's woodland workshop. The pace is relaxed, there is plenty of time to learn, chat and get absorbed in what you are doing, and you come away having made something of your own.

You certainly do not need to arrive knowing your way around a workshop either. Aaron's approach makes green woodworking accessible to people who simply fancy trying something new as well as those who already have some woodworking experience.

It is creative, sociable and a rather lovely way to switch off for a while.

And you get to take your handiwork home with you at the end.

A different kind of day out

We love experiences like this because they offer something a little different from the walks, mountain adventures and outdoor activities the Cairngorms are perhaps better known for.

You are still surrounded by the landscape and working with materials that come from it, but instead of simply seeing the Highlands, you are learning a traditional skill and gaining a little more understanding of the woodlands around you.

And there is something rather special about returning home from a holiday with something you have actually made, rather than something you've bought from a gift shop.

Aaron runs courses and workshops at different times throughout the year, so we recommend checking his website for his current programme, availability and booking information.

Discover Aaron Sterritt's woodworking courses

Happy making!