~ 7 min read ~
If you don’t know Sophie's work already, you will probably notice it everywhere now. Going by the name Grain and Knot, her hand carved brushes and vases grace aspirational mantelpieces and windowsills globally. More than just a woodworker though, Sophie seems like an artist whose medium is wood. She may make items that are functional, but no two pieces are the same and each is a celebration of the materials natural form and pattern. She speaks about her stash of uncarved spalted wood as such a precious resource, the enthusiasm for her craft emanates. As I mention below in the interview, coming across Sophie on the TV was, for me, a significant moment in my journey with race and representation. So it was a great pleasure to be able to share this experience with Sophie at her new studio in South London, wearing her granite Thea shirt.
FT - So I came across you when I was watching Britain's Best Woodworker on Channel 4. It was an extra special moment for me to turn on the telly for the beginning of the new series and see you as the new presenter! When I look at you, I see a really close representation of myself! Tall, brown, similar hair and in the creative industries. Even style wise there’s some degree of similarity. It touched me so much, and made me massively smile.
SS - Thank you so much! TV is not something I'd ever planned on doing work wise. It was a great opportunity that came to me and I said, ‘yeah, let's see how it goes’ I got the job and a few weeks later I was away in a field in Wales filming. It was a great experience and I learnt a lot about the behind the scenes of how TV works. I got quite anxious before it came out but it got a great response. I'm so happy you enjoyed it, and so glad I get to represent the more underrepresented members of society.
FT - I wondered if there's anything you could share about growing up as a brown person in the era that we did, when there wasn't any representation for folk like us?
SS - I grew up partly in the Middle East. My West African dad and white Mediterranean mum had four mixed race children in a Muslim country. People often thought my mum was our nanny when we were out in public as it was illegal for an Omani person to marry someone that wasn't Omani at the time. When we moved to the outskirts of London I went to a really lovely but very suburban school. I would get asked questions like ‘Were you all adopted together?! It sounds silly, but you don't realise you're different until someone else tells you by commenting on your hair or skin.
I went to Manchester for uni and there I started to explore friendships with a wider range of people.
I've always been drawn to areas that are more multicultural, and looking back on it, subconsciously I'd moved into a part of Manchester that was a lot more gritty and a real mix of everyone, unlike the parts of London that I’d grown up in. However to me it just seemed more normal, you don't get stared at when you walk around, you just fit in and I loved that. Where I live now, in my little pocket of southeast London it's the same sort of thing, a real mix of cultures, it’s great!
FT - What can you tell us about how you get your amazing spalted wood?
SS - We've researched loads of different ways to encourage the spalting. You can use different yeasts, sugars, all sorts to attract the bugs. So we make a real mixture of soil, leaves, beer or cider for the yeast and sugars, and just literally put it on the log, and then the log has to stay moist throughout the process. This was a beer or cider one, we think. It's got these beautiful pink lines that run through it and flecks of orange, it's so incredible it could be a watercolour painting. You never know what you’re gonna get because it's natural, and it’s a nice surprise. Everyone's like, what have you painted that with? And I'm like, it’s nature baby! It's so good! There’s a Sycamore piece that I’ve had for years and I just don't feel like I'm good enough to use it yet, and we've never managed to get that effect again, we just caught it at the right time!
FT - WOULD YOU RATHER have a pile of lovely spalted wood and a bread knife OR your dream selection of sharp knives, but only plywood to carve? (and I don't mean beech plywood, I mean the cheap stuff that splits)
SS - That's really tough because you can't really carve plywood, it’s great for certain things though. Can I sharpen the bread knife?
FT - It's always going to be a bread knife, but yes you can try.
SS - it's so difficult because a beautifully sharp knife pairs extremely well with the spalted wood, but you know what, even if I made an object that was rubbish but still had the beauty of the natural spalted wood, I'd probably go for the bread knife, but it would make me sad.
FT - Sorry, didn't want to make you sad.
FT - What two words would you use to describe your clothing style?
SS - Definitely Utility and comfort. It's got to be practical and comfortable, especially when I'm working. When I go out, I'll wear something smarter, but she's not wearing heels, you know what I mean? I do like a shirt, I think a smart collar just elevates an outfit, you can literally be wearing joggers and a shirt.
FT - So what do you like about your Fine Tilth shirt?
SS - It’s really soft and incredibly well made. And one thing I noticed is it fits very well on my shoulders, with very beautiful details like the pin tucks. I'm a big fan of subtle details that elevate things.
FT - If you had to make one of your objects for the rest of your life, which one would it be?
SS - I think it would have to be brushes. I'm a tactile person and I really enjoy the bristling side and I think they really show my personality.
FT - Finally, do you think a lot about the future of Grain and Knot, are you going to let it evolve naturally or do you have big plans?
SS - I don't really like to make plans, I like to see what happens. I know that I will try and sell four collections a year working seasonally. By working in that way, I only get paid four times a year, but it gives me the time and space to actually think about what exactly I want to make. At the moment, I'm working on these new wall art pieces.
FT - So you're currently exploring a direction towards more artistic pieces?
SS - Yeah, I do find that difficult because I've always made things that are functional and I think I struggle to make something that is purely art. But I have so many of these objects in my home and I enjoy them, and people have asked me for them, so I thought why am I not selling these?
Also I want to write a book. I've started it, but it's taking a long time. I've got a cracking concept I came up with years ago and I'm trying to get over that imposter syndrome of, I'm not good enough to write a book, because if someone else writes this book before I do I’ll be so pissed off. So yeah there's definitely things I want to tick off. And the book is one of the biggest ones!
FT - I look forward to reading it.
www.grainandknot.com @grainandknot