Mark Gooch started bigger, then sized it down – at least that’s how furniture has figured in his life. Born in 1973, Mark left school at 16 after completing a normal education, and he began an apprenticeship for making full-size furniture and restoring antique furniture. Eventually, he was unemployed for a short while, and because he lives in a small village and doesn’t drive, there weren’t many job opportunities available.
A transition was in the wind. He had a garden shed and a handful of basic tools, so he decided to make miniature furniture, mainly just to pass the time and having no idea that a living could be made from it. He was given a copy of DHW, one that happened to feature some wonderful tiny Renaissance-style pieces by David Hurley and Barry Hipwell. It was then that Mark realised that it might be possible to make a living from such an endeavour. “I never thought I could get to their high standard,” Mark recalled, “but knowing that such perfection actually was possible, I was determined to improve my own work.”
Chippendale bureau bookcase circa 1760. Made from pear-wood.
While his experience in making fullsize furniture was a great way to start, Mark is primarily self-taught in making miniature versions, and he has worked hard to evolve in his expertise. “The pieces I make now are far more advanced from my early ones. The good side is that I learn from every piece, determined to make the next one even better. The down side is I am never completely happy with the finished pieces.” So says the perfectionist.