As you will know we recently ran a competition on our Twitter page for a blog post feature. It was a great opportunity to get to know our new community members businesses even more. As always, we had some amazing entrants but the one we felt deserved to win the blog post was Berkano Wood. Founded in 2012 by Jan Needham after falling foul of the recession, the business marries a traditional craft with the current national obsession of reclamation and up-cycling. If you love craft, tradition or vintage, you’ll love Jan’s work.
A micro business working out of the beautiful market town of Darlington, the ethos of Berkano Wood is to create something beautiful with a tactile (usually rescued) piece that doesn’t take from the environment. Jan lovingly oils or hand waxes each unique piece to give it that beautiful naïve look. Each piece is carved from an already existing wooden product. Jan spots the potential in unusual items (such as your average garden fencing – we kid you not) and styles a new piece to give you a customised item. We think this is such a lovely way to store your memories. What a cool thing it would be, to have your Dad’s old garden fence sitting happily on your coffee table!
Whenever possible an item is ‘upcycled’ by using reclaimed wood. Jan prefers to work with pre-used wood so that elements and features from the wood’s previous life are preserved, and, incorporated into the new product. “I’ve made mirrors from old garden fencing that, once sanded, oiled and waxed, are unrecognisable. I’ve also made a mirror from the arm of an old sofa bed. That was really quite cool as it still retained echoes of its former incarnation”.
Jan says the most popular commissions are Memory boxes “as they make unique gifts to commemorate
a civil partnership, or anything that you feel warrants something special and long lasting”. Your box won’t look the same as anybody else’s as Jan personalises the piece with names, dates and text which she stencils onto the work. “For a really special piece I can hand carve the text”.
All memory boxes made by Berkano Wood are joined using the traditional joiners craft technique of the dovetail. Many modern pieces of furniture don’t have this feature as it’s so time consuming to make. It makes the item very durable, as well as enhancing the aesthetic of the box. Using the dovetail join also allows for the end grain to be displayed which adds contrast.
Our favourite piece is the treasure box. If you’d like something really unique and truly hand crafted. You can contact Jan at Berkano Wood. She is also very active on Twitter and Facebook.
