web: woodlives.uk email: woodlivesuk@gmail.com Facebook: woodlives bp Instagram: woodlives_uk

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These birdhouses are available in my shop and I ship anywhere in the world:)!

When I was a kid, I was very different, not because I wanted to be, I really was. By the age of 17, I already had my organic garden of 500 m2, in the forest, above the village, given by the very old and ill lady that I used to help daily. She wrote a document and gifted the garden to me, as thank you for my support. The main purpose was not growing food, but the cultivation of myself and self-elevation. I completely fell in love with the plot, I have spent days and nights up there, in constructive solitude and silence. The dream was to build a small cabin with a small fire stove, bed, table, and personal library. And to live there with the company of 2 dogs and 2 goats. Not to withdraw myself but to dose the modern world as when needed. Then the life happened, the lady left this world and I lost the land, as at the time of receiving the gift, I wasn`t officially an adult. My dreams fell apart, I was exiled from the land by her greedy family, and after a few years, I left my home country. Seventeen years later, and I still dream of the plot. In my dreams, I am always sneaking around the garden, which is very tidy and full of vegetables and I feel enormous jealousy because now, it belongs to someone else. On numerous occasions, I tried to buy the plot but was always refused. The last time when the owner manipulated my emotions via the phone, I went up there, sat on the rock, and thought how desperate, stuck, and emotionally numb I am. I turned back and kept observing the overgrown and quiet plot, through the high mid-summer grasses swinging on the gentle breeze. The scene seemed surreal, the place so familiar, yet so distant and quiet. And I said to myself that this emotional torture must stop. I know all the theory, I`ve taken much more from the plot than anyone else ever will, I have developed myself and learned how about organic gardening, I have encountered wild animals, fermented and extracted the place to its core. After the long draining meeting with myself, I concluded that I should follow Natural rules and act just like a seed- the best nutrients and energy from the soil and environment are stored in that small grain. Following the biological rules, the seed usually must travel, riding on the wind on its trajectory until it finally hits the ground elsewhere, germinates and spreads its life there and then. And germination for us humans means potential freedom, self-development, growth, creating, delivering, and it can happen at any point in life.

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Wales inspires me so much to create. It evokes many of the emotions, experiences, attitudes, and opinions that I have deposited into my spirit over my lifetime and helps me to convert them into the rustic reclaimed wood products that I make. Rustic indeed they are, exposing tired, but still childish soul. Just like an elderly dancer who just wants to dance despite the facial lines and limited flexibility.  Wales is like a real fairy tale, perfect composition spreads before me, offering endless food for my eyes and soul. Landscape, seascape, skyscape…my escape…. An entropic space with a synergic influence on me. Each detail contributes to the overall picture, the ancient hills created by the glaciers, wild foxgloves feeding the bees, and ancient oak trees in the fields. As an environmentalist, I use reclaimed materials to create products coming from within, the most popular one being quirky birdhouses. You will find me on the beaches and in the woodlands, sauntering alone aimlessly, collecting pieces of wood, moss, and shells. Each piece gets my full attention, and employs my mind: do I feel it, can I incorporate it into one of the projects, will it convey the story, will it make people ask themselves questions?  On the other hand, you`ll see me collecting old furniture around the estate, cutting them into pieces on my bandsaw, completely lost in time. It can be 1 pm or 1 am. In my small workshop, time is an illusion.

In 2017, I started WoodLives, a one-man business that supports people, art, and sustainability. To date, I have created more than 140 houses, each is different and unique, and I have sold them across the globe. They are varnished with a good outdoor varnish, have a removable floor, so the nest can be cleaned, and can be hung on the tree or fence. There`s nothing more rewarding than to hear from my customers that the house became a home for some local bird family. I especially enjoy adding details, such as mini bricks, or hand-turning the chimneys on the lathe. On the other hand, I adore bespoke orders, some customers have specific requests re color, shape, and ornaments, and I help them to get their dream house- on a small scale.

By riding on the wind and following my heart once again, I have created my style, developed my skills (still have 10 fingers), seen many places, started WoodLives, and made people happy. If I had to give advice to someone, that would be: keep your mind open and never forget that we are just a fractal of a bigger picture. What seems bad at the moment, has a bigger meaning, not always accessible to us.  As my friend would say “You are but a speck of life on an average planet orbiting an average star in a galaxy in this Universe. A speck containing approximately 7 trillion cells. Each cell contains on average 100 trillion atoms.”