James Ryan

[Image] James_Ryan6.JPG James Ryan designs all the furniture made in the Barnsley Workshop. He is in charge of day-to-day running and he liaises with clients when they commission a piece of furniture.

He joined the Barnsley Workshop as an apprentice in 1992. As part of his apprenticeship he spent six months studying at the Carl Malmsten School in Stockholm. After completing his apprenticeship he stayed on in the workshop as a craftsman. In 1997 James took responsibility for designing some of the furniture made in the workshop. James was guided by Jon Barnsley, who ran his own architecture practice and had taken over design duties from his father Edward. In 2001 James took over full responsibility for design. In 2003 he combined his design role with that of workshop manager.

He has received six Guild Mark awards from the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers for pieces he has designed for the Barnsley Workshop. His work has been selected for Design Nation. In addition to his role at the Barnsley Workshop James works as a free-lance designer. He is a liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers and now serves on its Guild Mark award committee.

In 2008 and 2009 he organized the annual gathering of the DesignerMakers.org.uk forum members. Each was attended by more than a hundred furniture makers from around the country.