From furniture to gilded fantasies
- Robert is a Senior Carving Lecturer at City & Guilds of London Art School
- Since 2000 he has been a partner in the Sands and Randall firm
- He recreated one of the dragons carved in 1762 for the Great Pagoda at Kew Gardens, London
The apprenticeship he was offered when he was 16 years old, changed Robert Randall's life. Instead of going to university after leaving school, Robert chose to train with a woodworking company, which led him to enrol at the London College of Furniture after three years. Whilst there, he discovered that woodcarving was his passion, rather than cabinetry. Since getting a diploma in Ornamental Woodcarving and Gilding at City & Guilds of London Art School in 1997, and consequently opening his studio with Ashley Sands, Robert has undertaken a wide range of projects and commissions, from traditional to contemporary. His work can be seen in London at the Shakespeare’s Globe, St Paul’s Cathedral and Kew Gardens, and in galleries and private collections around the world.
INTERVIEW
When you are a furniture maker, eventually all you do is make boxes, there's no way around that. I was very good at wood carving and when I saw a course at the City & Guilds Art School, I decided to do it. Now, I still work with wood but much more creatively.
I like to use indigenous woods and in England we have lime, oak and pine. Each wood is chosen either to match an original piece or for its particular qualities, such as durability, ease of carving, sharpness for details or attractive grain or tone.
My dad is a sculptor and my mum is a painter, an etcher, and I had been brought up surrounded by art. I like fine art and when I started my career as a wood carver, one of my sources of inspiration was probably Grinling Gibbons.
Turning a bare piece of wood into something else. I also like the fact that it is fun and that in our studio, we can go from making a very contemporary piece, like the one we are making for Tonico Lemos Auad, to restoring a 18th century shield.
