a maker
Do you remember the time when you’re about to leave school and the career advisors visits your school to see you and ask you what career choices you have in mind for the future, Well, Ben’s answer to that question was a cracker when they visited him, “I want to have a shed and invent things in it”. And the career advisors negative reply was “seriously though, realistically, what would you like to do?” Even at that point in Ben’s life, he seemed to have the future planned out to some degree, in addition to the dream of re building a boat from a wreck one day. Don’t we all love to dream…
Ben’s options moving forward at that point was to continue to invent things in his shed alongside some further classroom & practical skills. That came about in the first instance of a Foundation Diploma of Art and an A level in Graphic Design, followed on by a Degree in Design craft at Uni.
“Something clicked in my brain and I knew that was what I wanted to do.”
After Uni, Ben did the norm and travelled for a while, meeting some interesting people along the way and getting what you might call some life experiences. At this point, he was unsure about what he wanted to do on his return to the UK but he remembers a friend showing him this article about Cockwells, that’s a Cornish boatyard to you and me. That sealed it for him. Ben told me “Something clicked in my brain and I knew that was what I wanted to do.” That past dream of re building a boat was about to come true to some extent.
He returned home, moved to Cornwall and booked a place on a boat building course in Falmouth. After completing that course he remembered that boat yard and the article, Cockwells, that his mate had pointed out to him some time ago. He approached them for a job and got offered a position starting at the bottom and working his way up. Over the next few years, he developed his love of boat building from elements of design, restoration projects and development roles within the industry, but then came Covid and things were about to change, all for the better I might add.
Covid refocused Ben to some extent and his love of art returned. It was at that point he put boat building skills to one side and set about concentrating on his art and began to reengage those inventor skills he’d always had. Through the period of lockdown, Ben re invented himself, excuse the pun, and that’s where we find him today. He still loves his boat building and often helps out mates here and there on their projects, but its art he’s fond of now.
I would have described Ben as an artist, but his own description of himself is a “Maker”, a maker of things, a designer of things and of course, an inventor of things. He works with Iron wire, old boat parts, sail cloth and old wood from many different sources. The pieces he designs are very unique . Isn’t it great to be different and creative. Cheers Ben. RD
