Meet Ireland’s brilliant furniture designer, Adrian Duyn. Let’s talk Kintsuki! (Kenmare, Ireland).

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Before arriving in Joop and Adrian Duyn’s Joop Duyn & Sons workshop in Kenmare, Ireland, I had seen the expansive and exquisite furniture designs on their website. So I was prepared to be impressed. Jopp Duyn began this woodworking business 40 years ago, with Adrian’s presence adding the “Sons” some years later. Meeting the father and son amidst their actual woodworking creations brought me to a whole other level of appreciation. Expecting to be surrounded by the chairs, tables, and other pieces I had seen online, there, center stage in the workshop, stood a sculpted eight-foot-tall cypress tree that took my breath away.

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“It’s a sculpture,” said its designer, Adrian.

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“It’s art,” said his father, Joop.

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And he was right. It led me to thoughts about how broad the essence of art actually is. In Adrian’s case, in fact with all the pieces I had seen online and in the workshop by this father and son duo, it was clear that each piece was an original… crafted from scratch with great care. I had to find out the story behind this particular stunning and still unfinished piece.

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So what did I learn about Adrian’s abilities and his craft? Big things can start very small.

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The photo you see illustrates the small metal model that Adrian came up with before Adrian began the actual wooden sculpture. Let’s let Adrian explain:

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Wood is a miraculous material and in the hands of such an intuitive and trained craftsman, it was something to just take in as is and hope your jaw hasn’t dropped in amazement in how he went from the conceptual models to what you see next.

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When I asked him what the next steps were, he shared some of his deeper knowledge of the workings of wood itself.

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“We will use oil, not lacquer. With the oil it leaves the timber to breathe. Because there’s so much timber put together in one piece, there’s a lot of movement still happening, so it still needs to move and it still needs to get air in. Whereas if you lacquered it, you’re sealing it and the timber can’t move so it won’t be happy in it.”

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Asking about the final stages, he responded, “Then after that we’re working through more sanding and sanding, and you can see it, but you still have the texture. And what we’re doing then is we’re chasing in the grain, so instead of having these straight lines, you get these lovely waves and bubbles as well, which adds so much more to it. So you’re working it out. Now that’s only stage one of it. It’ll be more textured than that.”

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After spending time with Adrian in the workshop, and seeing the true genius at work here, it was also clear that all the work that they do is delivered with kindness, brilliance, and taste that is driven by a love of Nature. In Adrian’s bio on the Duyn website, his connection with Nature is described quire well: Adrian’s connection to nature serves as the cornerstone of his creative process. Each piece he crafts is infused with a sense of harmony and balance, reflecting his belief that furniture should not only be functional, tactile and visually pleasing but also evoke an emotional response.

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What is his approach? There is a mischievous quality about Adrian. Yet, when he speaks of his work, he could not be more serious.

 

I asked about his philosophy or approach. He didn’t hesitate: “Kintsugi. Inspired by nature. So that’s the craft. And so to me it’s like one part should be about the actual mission and belief and the craft of what you do, the tools, the woods, things like that.”

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A broadly found definition of Kintsugi: In a world that so often prizes youth, perfection and excess, embracing the old and battered may seem strange. But the 15th-Century practice of kintsugi, meaning “to join with gold,” is a reminder to stay optimistic when things fall apart and to celebrate the flaws and missteps of life.

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In a world of no-credential Influencers and Social Media ‘experts’, genius can be ornery and arrogant; but this work is delivered with kindness, brilliance and taste driven by a love of Nature. Seeing Adrian’s work, it was clear he was being modest.

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Originally from Holland, Joop has also made an amazing name for himself in the fine art of furniture restoration, which in Ireland, can often involve badly damaged antiques or treasured pieces. Joop is well-known for bringing them back to a new life. His manner is calm and gentle and there’s often a slight smile at the corner of his lips. His work is exquisite and delicate and meaningfully appreciated by the finest hotels and families who want to reclaim a treasured piece of their past.

 

With a heritage like that, it’s not surprising that his son Adrian has won many awards—including one for the interior design of his own house. In fact, Adrian Duyn is one of the rising stars in the furniture design industry—and not just in Ireland, but also globally. (A listing of his awards and a map of his clients are displayed at the end of this post.)

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Part 2 of my meeting with Adrian and Joop will be found in a subsequent post. That one will focus on more of Adrian’s history, including his training, as well as the father and son’s work together.

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One last video treat in this one. A petit fours box… a box full of magic. Again, it was like watching something in a three-dimensional view.

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And one last photo of a different ongoing father and son project. Joop and Adrian were beginning to revitalize this old card table when I was there…

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When I asked how old the table was, Adrian said 90 to 100 years. Joop added, “You can kind of see it on the discoloration of the oak itself, all the way through. The tint itself gets darker, even if it’s inside.”

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It is such a joy to be in the presence of such pure talent.

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A special thanks to Joop and Adrian Duyn for allowing me to photograph their workshop while I spent time getting to know them.