An interview with this year's VWA scholarship recipient
The Victorian Woodworkers Association has announced Melbourne woodworker Lauren Henderson as the recipient of its annual scholarship. The award provides the recipient with a $2000 grant to further their skills in woodwork or woodwork teaching. The grant is open each year to VWA members across Australia.
Lauren Henderson is a furniture designer maker based in Melbourne. After completing her apprenticeship and gaining experience as lead furniture maker and production manager at West Wood Melbourne, Lauren has worked as a teacher and mentor for woodworking students. We asked Lauren a few questions about herself and what her plans were.
Congratulations again Lauren on receiving the Vic Wood Scholarship! Can you tell us a little about yourself? When and how did you get into woodworking?
Well…I’m 32, I’ve been slowly renovating my house basically on my own for the past five years, and working as a furniture maker for a small company in Melbourne up until the start of this year.
I got into woodworking after a trip to Japan back in 2015. I was so incredibly inspired by their architecture and woodwork in particular that I quit my job and enrolled in a furniture making/cabinet making apprenticeship as a mature age student.
Lauren Henderson’s coffee table with veneer inlays in Tas oak, walnut, blackwood and beech. The design was inspired by Katsushika Hokusai’s Umezawa in Sagami Province.
What’s your preferred style of woodworking?
I am into the simplicity of Japanese and mid-century style of furniture, anything with solid timber joinery that can be seen.
What does the scholarship provide you with and what will you do?
This scholarship is going to help get me to Japan next year for a joinery course in Kyoto. I’ll be learning traditional joinery using only hand tools, part of this course will also include purchasing and setting up traditional hand tools like chisels and handplanes.
What are your plans from here on?
I’ll be working on starting my own business, begin to design some pieces for a range of furniture that incorporates some of the techniques that I’ve learned during the course.
What does an award like this mean to you?
It’s the confidence that I now have for myself that means the world to me. I struggle with imposter syndrome a lot, and to have the support of others in the VWA is the push that I needed to show my skills and work on my craft.
Photos courstesy Lauren Henderson
Lauren Henderson will attend the Suikoushya woodworking course in Arashiyama, a town on the outskirts of Kyoto, Japan. Running for one month, the course includes an introduction to Japanese hand tools, visiting local tool stores, making a sharpening stone base and toolbox, and learning various aspects of joinery.