Santiago Valverde López

Woodturner

©Santiago Valverde

©Antonio Ruiz

The beauty of decay

Santiago turns the enormous trunks of rotted olive trees
He likes to make large works, unusual for turned wood
He works with the natural imperfections of Andalusian olive wood

Santiago started his professional life by creating an industrial refrigeration company. There he met a master woodworker whose workshop was next to his and would prove to be an inspiration for Santiago. “Woodworking started as a hobby,” he says. “I had a friend who worked wood and had a lathe. I bought it from him and started doing small things.” In 2000, he left his company and opened his own workshop. His works are made from different types of wood, many of them native to his region of Spain, especially olive wood, which to Santiago evokes the area and its customs. “I started to make these large pieces on the lathe in 2009 and thought that it could be interesting as there was no one else making this type of work,” he says.

Interview

©Santiago Valverde

©Antonio Ruiz

How did you find your style?: In Andalusia, old olive trees are rotten and damaged, so when I started using this wood I had problems; I couldn’t use it in the same way as good quality wood. I decided the best way to use it was to create natural amphora, removing the broken wood, giving it a brightness and attractiveness.
What inspires you?: Inspiration comes during the process of turning, since I must shape the wood in such a way that it doesn’t break. Size is also an inspiration – I always want to make pieces as big as possible and I have to find the most appropriate wood for this.
What do you love most about your work?: Finishing the piece! It's very satisfying. The most important thing is that the work takes shape and turns out well. Because sometimes while being turned, the piece breaks, and then you have lost all the time you have put into it and you have nothing.
Has there been a memorable moment in your career?: Winning prizes! It’s great to have that recognition, and to see people’s reactions to my work. Often they are amazed and don’t understand how they are made. In one place where I exhibited, people thought they were ceramic pieces, and when they realised it was wood, they were astonished!

Santiago Valverde López is an expert artisan: he began his career in 2001