My bespoke furniture designs represent a journey that began in 1975 when I set up my first workshop. It is a journey that has sought to make connections along the way with a wide range of skills and issues including forestry, wood, design craftsmanship, ethics and sustainability. Since the mid-1990s my work has embraced the issue of sustainable forestry which eventually found its focus in the creation of a local cycle that sources non-commercial timber from woodlands in Oxfordshire. This resulted in a range of innovative designs that has received national publicity ... Next 
Awards include: - FRSA ~ Life Fellow Royal Society of Arts (1988)
- FCSD ~ Fellow Chartered Society of Designers (2002) for “Exceptional professional practice and creativity”
- FIWSc ~ Fellow Institute of Wood Science (2007) for advancing the field of wood science
- PhD ~ Brunel University (2007) for developing an innovative approach to furniture design ... Next
Exhibitions include:
- Henley Festival of Arts, Oxfordshire ~ July 2011
- 21st Century Craftsmen, The Millinery Works, London ~ March - April 2010
- Celebration of Craftsmanship and Design, Cheltenham ~ 15 - 24 August 2009
- 21st Century Furniture: The Art & Crafts Legacy ~ The Millinery Works, London ~ 1 - 26 April 2009
- Going Green: sustainability past and present ~ The Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading ~ 10 July – 28 October 2007
- Celebrating Art in the Garden, Urchfont Manor, Devizes ~ 2 - 9 September 2007
- Out of the Woods , Wycombe Museum ~ 22 July - 8 October 2006
- Out of the Woods , River Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames ~17 September 2004 - 7 January 2005
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Out of the Woods , Art in Action, Waterperry House ~July 2005
- The Art of Furniture, Gas Hall, Birmingham City Museum ~ 28 February – 4 March 2004
- Classic IX, Belgium~ 1 – 9 November 2003
- Centre of Contemporary Furniture, Cheltenham~ February – August 2003
- Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
- Designs on Environment, Banqueting House, Whitehall Palace, London ~1999
- International exhibitions in USA, UAE, Italy and France ... Next
Public Collections: - The Guardian Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye
- Museum of English Rural Life, Reading
- Wycombe Chair Museum, High Wycombe
- River Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames
- Checkendon Church ~ Lectern in English oak with walnut inlay
- Alms House Chapel, Goring Heath ~ Font in Oxfordshire oak and copper
- St Mary’s Church, Henley-on-Thames ~ Mobile lectern ... Next
Books: - Bespoke, Betty Norbury, Stobart Davies Ltd, 2007
- Furniture for the 21st Century, Betty Norbury, Stobart Davies Ltd, 1999
- The Encyclopaedia of Woodworking Technique, Jeremy Broun, Headline, 1994
- British Craftsmanship in Wood, Betty Norbury, Stobart Davies Ltd, 1990 ... Next
Publications:- A Sustainable Approach to Furniture Design, The Designer, Chartered Society of Designers, Issue 21, 2004
- Out of the Woods ~ Philip Koomen: a Sustainable Approach to Furniture Design (Exhibition Catalogue, 2004)
- Techniques to Add Aesthetic Value to Beech in Product Design, Transnational Woodland Industries Group, 2002 ... Next
Lectures, including those that have been in association with American Hardwood Export Council:
- Ideas in the Making
- A Craftsman’s Progress
- Shaping a Sustainable Future in Wood
- British Furniture Designer-Makers
- Making a Modern Legacy
- Designer Furniture
- Adding Value through Design
- Towards a Sustainable Approach to Furniture Design
- Designing Furniture in Hardwoods
- Forest to Furniture: Designing in American Hardwoods
- Provenance in Wood
- Techniques that Add Aesthetic Value to Beech (with Adam Lawson)
- Creativity and Spirituality
- Out of the Woods
- A Strategy to Promote Sustainable Business Practice ... Next
Education:- 1974-75 ~ Buckinghamshire College: Furniture Design and Technology
- 1975-77 ~ Buckinghamshire College: Wood Science and Technology
- 1984 ~ Travel Scholarship, Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers
- 2007 ~ PhD, Brunel University: Sustainable Furniture Design