TINA ROSE explores the influences of Shetland born furniture maker CECIL TAIT.

Furniture designer Cecil Tait designed a rocking chair at school when he was 16 years old and it turned out to be a life-changing experience. He loved the process so much he decided it would be great to do it full time.

After school he trained in furniture design at Glasgow College of Printing and Technology before completing a degree at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College. Amongst the experiences he remembers from this time is being asked to do a reproduction piece of a Charles Rennie McIntosh chair. At the time he thought ‘this is so cool I want to build this’ however quickly discovered it was a nightmare to build.

After completing his training Cecil returned to his home on Shetland and worked for three years as an engineer. He was then offered the chance to have an exhibition of his work in the Shetland museum and decided to quit his job and take the brave step of starting his own business. For the first six months he spoke to everyone who he thought could help him, found a place to work, and in July 2003 he started Papar Wark Furniture.

Located in Scalloway, Cecil designs and produces high quality furniture, mainly to commission, including a range of traditional Shetland furniture such as chairs, kists and boxes. In 2004, when he was 27 years old, he won £500 as Shetland’s top Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and represented the island at the Scottish final.
 
The ideas for his work come from his Christian faith and where he lives; for example, the Pony Chaist was inspired by the shape of a Shetland pony while the Boat Bench echoes the shape of a boat. His innovative guitar stand not only provides a place to keep the guitar and music but transforms into a stool to use when playing. Another commission, the Love Seat, was to celebrate a 10th wedding anniversary and he incorporated 10 ribs on the seat, one for each year the couple had been together.

He also makes traditional Shetland furniture such as the Shetland chair, which has a larger seat when it is made for a woman to allow space for knitting. He is currently working on a commission for the local port authority making a 4.6m table with 18 chairs inspired by the sea and boats.

Cecil admits that running your own business looks easier on paper than it is in reality, however, he advises anyone with dreams of doing so to ‘just go for it and try’.

© Tina Rose, 2006