David Handford was raised in South Cumbria in Northern England. As a child, he would play in the forests and meadows around Lake Windermere, making dens, tree houses and all sorts and invented items out of from fallen wood or driftwood washed up on Morecambe bay.
David struggled throughout his early life at school due to dyslexia but exceled at wood and metal working during his formal education.
After School David spent time in the Armed Services then did many years of traveling. He later went onto gain a BA (Hons) in create arts from the University for the Creative Arts. In 2014, he began to return to the memories of inventing and making along the lakes and bays of south Cumbria and started designing and making lamps and furniture from old building lumber.
He became captivated with the possibilities of making high quality furniture from humble sustainably sourced materials, what are the qualities and limitation of the material? and what could he invent and transform them into?
As he honed his skills, in 2016, he took on bigger projects, making furniture, tables, from old planks and trees. He combined the wood with steel forming new designs and went onto renovating an old run down building into a workshop studio in Morecambe Lancashire. From childhood play to creative quality furniture and lighting, the designs from the Shadowdog studio come from seeing new possibilities and beauty from simple humble materials.
