About us

About Coppice & Colour

Coppice & Colour is a heritage craft studio based in North East Wales, bringing together traditional brushmaking, green woodworking and natural dyeing through handmade products, workshops and demonstrations.

At the heart of our work is a fascination with natural materials and the knowledge held within them. Whether working with wood, bark, plant fibres or dye plants, we are interested in understanding where materials come from, how they behave, and how traditional crafts have developed around them over generations.

Through making and teaching, we aim to help keep these heritage skills alive while encouraging a deeper appreciation of the materials, landscapes and processes from which they emerged.

Why Coppice & Colour?

Our name reflects the two strands that first brought our work together.

Coppice represents our connection to wood, traditional making and green woodworking. Colour reflects our long-standing interest in natural dyes and the colours that can be created from plants, bark and other natural materials.

Over time, we realised that these were not separate interests but deeply connected ones. Bark removed during green woodworking projects can become a source of natural colour. Dye plants gathered from hedgerows can influence the colours used on wooden objects. Skills learned in one craft frequently find their way into another.

Many of our projects sit at this intersection, exploring how materials can move between disciplines and how traditional crafts can inform one another. Rather than seeing woodworking, brushmaking and natural dyeing as separate practices, we view them as interconnected ways of understanding and working with the natural world.

Natural Dyeing

Natural dyeing has been part of Elizabeth's life since childhood through the Clwyd Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, where an early fascination with fibres, colour and traditional techniques first began.

Since 2021, Elizabeth has taught natural dye workshops, sharing both traditional methods and contemporary approaches to working with natural colour. Stuart began exploring natural dyeing around the same time and has since developed extensive practical experience through collaborative projects and experimentation.

Many of the dye materials we use are gathered sustainably from local hedgerows and landscapes across North Wales. Some of our favourite dye plants include broom, gorse, meadowsweet and rosebay willowherb, each producing its own range of colours and characteristics. We are continually inspired by the way colour emerges from the landscape and by the centuries of knowledge that underpin natural dye traditions.

Alongside plants, we are particularly interested in the dye potential of materials that might otherwise be overlooked. Bark, leaves and other by-products from woodworking projects frequently find a second life in the dye pot, creating unexpected connections between different parts of our practice.

Traditional Brushmaking

Our journey into brushmaking began when we organised a brushmaking course for the North East Wales Bodgers (NEWBs), part of the Association of Pole Lathe Turners and Green Woodworkers.

What began as curiosity quickly developed into a passion for one of Britain's oldest heritage crafts. Since then we have made hundreds of brushes using traditional techniques and natural materials, and since 2025 have been teaching brushmaking workshops ourselves.

Brushmaking perfectly reflects the balance we seek between function and beauty. A brush is first and foremost a tool, designed to perform a practical task well. Yet it is also an opportunity to celebrate craftsmanship, natural materials and thoughtful design.

We work with a variety of natural fibres and often favour beech for our brush handles, valuing both its durability and its warm, distinctive colour. Alongside sustainably sourced timber, driftwood collected from the North Wales coastline occasionally finds its way into our work, allowing the character of the landscape to become part of the finished object.

Green Woodworking

Green woodworking provides another important strand of our practice. Working with freshly cut timber and traditional hand tools offers a direct connection to the material and the skills developed around it over centuries.

We are drawn to the way green woodworking encourages a deeper understanding of wood itself — its grain, structure, strengths and limitations. This knowledge influences everything from the design of our brushes to the way we think about materials more broadly.

Green woodworking also reminds us that making begins long before an object reaches the workshop bench. Every piece of wood has its own history, and understanding that material is an important part of the making process.

Learning Through Making

Teaching is central to Coppice & Colour.

Alongside our handmade products, we run workshops, demonstrations and courses in brushmaking, natural dyeing and other heritage craft skills. We believe that the best way to understand a craft is to experience it for yourself, working directly with the materials, tools and processes involved.

Whether introducing someone to natural dyeing for the first time or helping them make their first handmade brush, our aim is to create welcoming opportunities for people to learn practical skills while developing a deeper appreciation for the traditions behind them.

Many heritage crafts survive because knowledge continues to be shared from one generation to the next. Through teaching, we hope to contribute to that ongoing process and help ensure these skills remain living, evolving traditions rather than forgotten ones.

Function, Beauty and Craft

Coppice & Colour brings together two complementary perspectives. Stuart's background in engineering and Elizabeth's background in art create an ongoing dialogue between functionality and aesthetics, practicality and creativity.

These perspectives influence everything we make. We believe useful objects can also be beautiful, and that beautiful objects can remain practical and purposeful. Whether creating a handmade brush, naturally dyed materials or a workshop experience, we strive to combine craftsmanship, functionality and a genuine connection to the materials involved.

Looking Forward

Above all, Coppice & Colour is driven by curiosity: curiosity about materials, traditional skills and the ways different crafts can connect and inform one another.

By making, teaching and continuing to learn ourselves, we hope to help ensure that traditional brushmaking, natural dyeing and heritage craft skills remain relevant, accessible and valued for generations to come.