Turning the Past Around
From his home studio in the Northern Highlands, Calum Murray is turning aged Whisky barrels into art. From beard combs to big benches, his work is very cool indeed...
Wulverwares funky White Oak bottle openers turned our heads and we are sure you will love them too. They are very tactile and we love how they stand up themselves ready to be of assistance with that cold beer. We have now added these bottle openers, with twine in collaboration with Dolly & Doe, to our gift boxes in time for Father's Day.
Here we ask a little about what inspired Calum to do what he does, the mythological beast behind the name and why Whisky barrels make the perfect upcycle...
We got excited when we spotted your bottle openers and then we checked out your other work, which impressed us, can you tell us how you got started?
"I've always been interested in making things, and woodwork is something that was always happening around the house growing up, whether it was DIY or my dad constructing obstacles for his outdoor adventure business. So I became accustomed to working with the material and helping him out."
What inspired the use of Whisky Barrel Oak to craft your designs?
"I started working with barrels specifically because I wanted to use a resource that was sustainable and recycled. My first thought was going down the route of using old pallets, but barrels have the added bonus of being oak wood, as opposed to the cheap wood used in pallets. Barrels also have an extraordinary history."
"Every Scottish whisky is made with a 'used' barrel, so there's been a huge trade for centuries between Scotland and other places to import their ex wine/ bourbon/rum/ sometimes even maple syrup barrels from all over the world. Which means every single product I make, not only has solid roots in Scottish tradition and history, but also is a statement to how connected Scotland is to the rest of the world, and how it has been connecting it's tradition to many different countries for hundreds of years."
Where did the name Wulverwares come from?
"Wulver is a Scottish mythological beast, a humanoid wolf creature said to live in the Shetland islands. It isn't a shapeshifter, and wasn't human from the start, it's an immortal spirit with the body of a man and the head of a wolf, with its whole body covered in short thick hair.
It's generally quiet and non-aggressive if left alone and spends it's days fishing on a rock known as the "Wulver's stane". He was also known to help out poor folk by leaving fish he caught on window-sills or by fixing damaged walls and other structures."
Very cool, sounds like Wulver is living the dream. Thank you for sharing your story Calum, and for allowing us to feature your bottle openers in our gift boxes!
If you would like to see more of Wulverwares designs, head over to his Instagram - Things made to last out of things from the past...