I was always into art from a very young age. I went to UCA in Epsom, but I was young and didn’t know what direction I wanted to go in. I knew I loved it, but I didn’t believe I’d be able to make a career as an artist. I dropped out after a year or so and began travelling. I realised I couldn’t keep going from job to job, so I trained as a tree surgeon. Mostly, it was because I wanted to work outdoors and be closer to nature, and I enjoyed it.
I like that element of being in the tree; moments in winter or autumn, at the end of the day, when the sun’s going down, the birds are singing, and it’s very peaceful, but that’s a very small part of the job. The reality is you’re busting your balls all day, and it’s very, very hard, and it’s very taxing on the body. I did it for 14 years and started my own business, but it wasn’t for me.
I’ve thought about this a lot, and there are quite a few similarities between doing pottery and tree surgery, which you wouldn’t think because they’re different extremes. One’s loud, noisy and heavy-duty, and the other peaceful and quiet. But what attracted me to tree work was that when you’re in a big tree, you spend a
