Wanda Sowry started making wooden automata in her final year at University, while studying a craft and design in 1998.
Her automata designs are simple and light-hearted.
Working from a small and very messy workshop near Bath, Wanda creates her automata mainly from reclaimed wood or off-cuts. She likes to employ a variety of naturally coloured woods - Purple Heart is used for details like wine bottles and Amarillo for egg yolks and drum kit symbols. Wanda also uses old mahogany shelves, maple and oak.
Her main tools are a very noisy mini belt sander, a small bandsaw, scroll saw, pillar drill, a Dremel, many bamboo kebab sticks and a lot of PVA glue.
Wanda also undertakes commissions, working from photos of individuals, their kitchens, workshops, offices or own items to make create personal and unique pieces.