A BUSINESSMAN has turned his back on his own company to pursue his dream of working with wood.

Mature student David Smith is studying furniture design at Burnley College in the hope that his new skills will provide a platform for a new venture.

And his work is the subject of a contemporary arts exhibition at Clitheroe's Platform Gallery, Station Road, due to begin on January 20.

Up until two years ago the 49-year-old from Leigh, owned his own engineering business specialising in metal forming equipment.

With contracts for Ford, Bentley and Aston Martin there was a never a lack of work, but rather a growing sense of dissatisfaction with long hours and the pressure of routine work.

When the opportunity arose in 2005 to sell his engineering premises after 18 years he jumped at the chance to pursue his dream of sculpting wooden creations.

With support from his wife he embarked on a course at Burnley and is hoping to add an up-to-date twist to traditional forms of wooden furniture such as tables, chairs, cabinets or any artefact that he is commissioned.

Mr Smith said: "My engineering company was successful but in the end it became just a job and when the chance came I decided to get out.

"I wanted to do something that interested me and that I enjoyed.

"Working with wood has always interested me and for a while I was making musical instruments such as guitars but even that gets a bit repetitive.

"The idea now is to make a living from the furniture. I'm staking the rest of my life on it and I know I won't go back in to engineering. In many ways it's a lifestyle change more than anything.

"Having my own engineering business was good but I wasn't being creative, hopefully this will allow to be so. I want to be more of an artist."

He said that Burnley College's reputation for furniture was increasing and the only other alternative was to travel to Leeds which is home to a similar course.

And while the change of career is a big step, his efforts so far have not gone unnoticed having won several awards for his work.

As well as design awards from the college, Mr Smith won the Curator's Award at a Towneley Hall exhibition, Burnley, last year.

It was this showcase that led curator of the Platform Gallery to choose David's work for the contemporary arts exhibition.

Curator Jenny Cork said: "Traditional craft techniques are still relevant today but for different reasons.

"Today they are an antidote to mass production and in rural areas crafts now help the rural economy through farm diversification and tourism."

David is making further waves in East Lancashire with his first commission coming from a Rawtenstall woman who wants a glass cabinet with an ecclesiastical church feel.