Philip Cumpstone is originally from the Rhymney Valley, South Wales.

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He trained in Graphic Design at Newport Art School and was awarded an MA at the University of Central England, Birmingham in 1989.

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Practicing and teaching Graphic Design, History of Art, Photography and Bread-Making in the decades since, his interest in 3D-design has more recently come to the fore.   

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In 2011 he acquired a late nineteenth-century stone cottage with a 140ft overgrown hedge, on the margins of the Black Mountain. It was the management of this unruly garden feature that inspired his interest in hedgerow furniture making. In essence, to absorb some of the organic abundance of ash and hazel.

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His aim now is a sustainable furniture design and build project using inherited, up-cycled and pre-loved hand tools. Time is invested in research, with the design and evolution of bespoke ‘jigs’ to aid efficient, rational workflow. Though this occupies many of his daylight hours, he remains an enthusiastic baker, while the hedge continues to grow