EXHIBITION: Grain by the North West Woodcraft Guild

Kit Wareham-Norfolk, Clock, made with the aid of CD and CNC. Photo: Dylan Proctor

Words: Stephen Oram

The town of Ulverstone, where the Leven River flows into Bass Strait in North West Tasmania, is home to a building called ‘Hive’. Hive houses the visitor information centre and gift shop, a café, Ulverstone Museum and Gallery, Tasmanian Science Centre and Planetarium, and community arts and crafts studios, namely those of Leven Regional Arts and the North West Woodcraft Guild.

As part of Hive’s autumn program of events, the Woodcraft Guild recently held a rather poignant exhibition entitled Grain. The 114 pieces produced by 39 members reflected the history of the guild with the inclusion of works by seven deceased members, all of which were given a place of great esteem.

A Quilt of 72 squares curated by Anne Williams depicts the variety of timbers and techniques available to woodworkers. Photo: Stephen Oram

At the entry point to the gallery, one’s attention was drawn to Sue Pitchford’s Mythical Dragon, a wall mounted piece made of Huon pine with blue sapphires. Immediately opposite was a Quilt of 72 squares displaying the wide variety of timbers available to woodworkers throughout the world.

The squares also depict some of the techniques makers use to express ideas and interests. To this end, the quilt shows examples of intarsia, chip and relief carving, turning, pyrography, veneering and marquetry, scrollsaw work, and joinery (as extolled by Anne Williams, curator of the quilt, in her kumiko squares).

Sue Pitchford, Mythical Dragon, Huon pine, blue sapphires. Photo: Stephen Oram

It is not within the scope of this article to give a blow-by-blow description of every piece in the exhibition. Suffice it to say that pretty well every aspect of woodcraft, including tree felling and milling, was represented. And in a sense the quilt is representative of the exhibition itself, as it shows the range of skills, abilities, and ideas of beginners through to accomplished craftspeople. In fact, the quilt is now on permanent display at Hive.

There were no prizes and no prices in this exhibition, as the main aim was to showcase guild members and their activities. According to Leanne Midgley, president of the guild, the exhibition also marked a transition from the past through the present and to the future. This reflects the physical reality of the guild moving to new, purpose-built premises in Hive.

Jane Lemon, Bothwell side table with developmental maquettes. Photo: Dylan Proctor 

Different approaches may be taken towards the making of an object, whether it is to be functional or otherwise. Usually we start with an idea of what the object will be, then move on to details such as materials, ergonomics, dimensions, appearance and style.

Often this involves drawings. Sometimes drawings lead to scale models, a good way to anticipate and resolve ‘problems’ and to see the design three-dimensionally. This part of the process was shown very nicely by Jane Lemon with her side table entitled Bothwell (a town in Tassie). On a wall-mounted shelf were a number of maquettes, progressing from MDF through to solid timber, detailing the changes in design along the way, with the final full-scale outcome below.

Sue Pitchford, Snake, Casuarina embellished with pyrography and carving. Photo: Stephen Oram

Other pieces come about by a sort-of-suggestion from the material-to-the-maker, as exemplified by Sue Pitchford’s Snake, made from a sinuous branchlet of Casuarina and embellished with pyrography and carving, and David West’s Mother and Baby Bird which is composed of a stylised carving of an adult bird with its chick, nestled in a dead Huon pine ‘bonsai’.

David West, Mother and Baby Bird – a stylised carving of a bird with its chick nestles in a branch. Photo: Stephen Oram.

Patricia Charlton’s driftwood collage Raw Imagination – Boundaries are Imaginary says it all – not only is the piece a product of the maker’s imagination, but also of the viewer’s perception!

J.Gardiner, Sewn Together. Photo: Dylan Proctor

Then there is the increasingly popular method of re-purposing and re-configuring, as seen in J.Gardiner’s Sewn Together.  Mostly though, we plan things out and generally work to the plan, especially when CAD and CNC enter the picture, as they did in Kit Wareham-Norfolk’s Clock.

Model of the Norfolk by Phil Midgley, boxes by Pat Hawkins, lamp by Leanne Midgley and Laurie Milburn, jewellery box by Geoff White, shoji lamp by Pat Hawkins and Path of Change by Werner Warsing. Photo: Dylan Proctor

Pat Hawkins’ Useless Box has a retro metal switch on the front, and the sign on the wall dares viewers to use it. Upon activation the hinged lid slowly opens to reveal a fluffy pink wide-eyed creature. Pat’s other offering is a Trick Box which to all appearances is fully sealed off from the world. We are invited to open it but after ten minutes I gave up, scared of breaking it. Definitely the results of planning.

My interest in lighting was piqued by some free-standing lamps. A collaborative effort by Leanne Midgley and Laurie Milburn (one of the guild’s long-term mentors) uses curved laminating and a number of turning techniques, resulting in a correspondingly elegant curvilinear form.

Pat Hawkins, Shoji Lantern. Photo: Dylan Proctor

Once again, Pat Hawkins Shoji Lantern shows us that boxes take many forms. Here there is a delicacy of construction which complements that which the box holds and disseminates – light.

James Bradley, The Two of Us, solid and veneered myrtle, fluorescent globes. Photo: Dylan Proctor

James Bradley (featured in the very first issue of this magazine) presented a pair of standard lamps. The Two of Us has small, blue, mercury reduced fluorescent globes set in black metal ‘halos’ atop rectilinear myrtle columns attached to triangular, quasi-pyramidal bases of myrtle burr veneer. Perhaps the style of this work could be said to be Art Deco, or Bauhaus, maybe even Biedermeyer. When asked, James described it as new work, while acknowledging that it derives influence from each style. Certainly the results of planning.

Peter Winskill, Guitar and music stand. Photo: Dylan Proctor

Stringed musical instruments comprised a large section of the orchestra...oops, exhibition. Acoustic and electric; fretless and headless, ukes, guitars (including a cigarbox), dulcimers and sticks. More than an octave, with a medley of materials: tiger myrtle, Huon, blackheart sassy, King Billy, celery, blackwood (fiddle of course), jarrah, sheoak, maple, spruce, and euc(alyptus). I loved them all, along with their support staff – music stands, instrument holders and cases. Note that a large number of the instruments are the results of participation in courses by Peter Winskill, of which more are planned.

Musical instruments were well represented in the exhibition. Shown here a dulcimer, cigarbox guitar and mandolin made by students at one of guild member Peter Winskill’s courses. Photo: Dylan Proctor

There were many more pieces shown which included wonderful examples of turning, intarsia, marquetry, carving and scrollsaw work. In all of these areas talent abounded.

From the artists’ statements one gained a sense of the overarching reverence for learning, particularly through mentoring, that is the ‘raison d’etre’ of the North West Woodcraft Guild. Hence the lack of prizes – everyone is encouraged to ‘have a go, and learn from mistakes’. This recognises how we all work to different personal standards, hopefully striving to improve our skills along the way.

The exhibition titled Grain ran from March 23 to May 26, 2024 at Hive, 50 Main St, Ulverstone, Tasmania. Learn more about the North West Woodcraft Guild at www.hivetasmania. com.au/northwest-woodcraft-guild

First published in Australian Wood Review, issue 124, September 2024

Stephen Oram lives in Somerset, Tasmania and in the course of 35 years has designed and made cabinetry, boxes and sculpture. Since 2002 he has specialised in the making of Celtic folk harps.