Tim Westley’s hand-forged knives – created from highly unusual, recycled materials – are highly prized by foodies cooking in restaurants or their own homes.
That’s partly because, as a former professional chef himself, he understands exactly what they want from what is arguably their most important, and most personal, item of equipment.
It’s also because there is a major drive towards zero (or minimal) waste kitchens.
Visitors to this year’s Spring Fling Open Studios Weekend (25-27 May), involving 104 studios across Dumfries and Galloway, can go to Tim’s forge in Newton Stewart and see how he is contributing to this movement.
They can also chat to him about how he creates his knives by beach combing and foraging.
The blades use steel from the tiny NOx (laughing gas) canisters used by substance abusers that he collects from places they have been dumped in Glasgow and London.
The highly colourful handles are made by melting and reshaping plastics from spent shotgun cartridges, provided by estates and shooting ranges, and from items like fish trawler boxes that wash up on local beaches.
Tim says: “A really good knife is so important to people who love cooking – for professional chefs it’s something they can be using just about all day every day.
“I’ve worked in some fantastic British restaurants myself, and travelled round Australia working in restaurants, so it’s something I really appreciate.
“And there’s a drive towards sustainability – which involves everything from not wasting ingredients to having responsibly sourced equipment.
“The knives I make are from materials that I have 95% recycled myself. Each one is made individually using blades I forge here in my workshop.”
The idea came to him when he was living on a narrowboat in London and had a workshop on an island in the Thames. He used to go out in a canoe collecting litter that was polluting the river and was trying to think of ways it could be positively repurposed.
Later, while travelling the UK in a campervan, he found and fell in love with Dumfries and Galloway.
Timothy said: “The sense of space and the quality of life here really appealed to me. It seemed perfect for me, my partner and the dogs. We just love it here.”
The business he now runs, Clement Knives, attempts to go even further than being zero-waste and actually uses far more waste than it generates – something underlined by the single black bin of rubbish which is all he has generated this year.
Joanna Jones, Upland Assistant Director, said: “Many of the artists and makers involved in Spring Fling have a strong commitment to the environment. In many cases they use waste, recycled, found or repurposed materials and make sure their own practices are sustainable.
“Tim’s work shows just how much a can be achieved, making incredibly high-quality chef knives from things that have been used or dumped – which gets litter off the streets and beaches and stops useful materials ending up in landfill.”
Ends
Notes for editors
Bus tours
Spring Fling has arranged bus tours to give visitors the chance to studios in more remote locations – including some of the new studios. They are a chance to relax, let someone else do the driving, meet new people. Places can be booked online.
About Spring Fling
- Spring Fling made its name a Scotland’s premier visual art and contemporary craft open studios event covering all Dumfries and Galloway, South West Scotland. It is the flagship annual event of Upland CIC.
- For further details visit www.spring-fling.co.uk or contact [email protected]
- For the full list of participating studios visit www.spring-fling.co.uk.
- Brochures can be ordered from the website and will be available in April.
- Spring Fling is pleased to once again have the support from Dumfries & Galloway Council as one of the region’s Signature Events.
- The open studios event also plays an important role in supporting artists and makers who are often working in remote areas – and contributes significantly to the region’s economy.
- Since its conception, Spring Fling has attracted around 174,000 visitors who have made over 546,000 studio visits.
- In 21 years over £10.2 million has been spent in the studios and the event has brought over £17.5 million for the region’s economy.
- Visitors will be able to follow six colour-coded routes taking them round studios in different parts of the region.
- Some studios will have special evening openings and there will be other attractions like walking and bus tours and, demonstrations on the lead up to the event.
About Upland
Upland CIC (Community Interest Company) supports artists and makers based in, and with connections to, the region. It delivers, events, training, networking, support and opportunities as part of a year-round programme to benefit the region, its artists, communities and economy. Upland CIC runs the annual Spring Fling contemporary visual art and craft open studios weekend in Dumfries and Galloway. It will work closely with other arts bodies in the region to further-strengthen the sector. Upland is based at Gracefield Arts Centre in Dumfries and exists to:
- produce and deliver festivals, events, and experimental projects of the highest quality
- nurture an environment where artistic excellence thrives and grows
- inspire and educate a wide range of audiences, customers and clients to understand, celebrate, be actively engaged in and supportive of visual art and craft practice
- raise the profile of visual artists and makers locally, nationally and internationally fulfilling a crucial role in the culture and tourism of Dumfries and Galloway
- build strategic partnerships at regional, national and international level
- maintain a financially sound and adaptively resilient organisation
- work to the benefit the local economy and the sustainability of local communities.
Its funders are Creative Scotland, D&G Council, The Holywood Trust, The Barfill Trust.
About Creative Scotland
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life. We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery. For further information about Creative Scotland please visit www.creativescotland.com. Follow us @creativescots and www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland.
For media information contact Matthew Shelley on 07786 704299 or at [email protected] or call Upland on 01387 213 218.