Mid-Winter Newsletter June 2023
Cheril Barber
Hello from a busy workshop!
Welcome to our latest newsletter stuffed full of what’s been happening, what’s going to be happening and what we would like to be happening!
New Short Course - The Mark of a Well-Made Drawer - 1st-3rd August
Carving Courses in August - Intro to Carving, Spoon Carving & Letter Carving
What's been happening in the workshop these last few months.....
2024 Furniture Makers' Programme
Emerge Exhibition
Beginners' Intensive Programme & Scholarship
Congratulations to David Haig
“The Mark of a Well-Made Drawer” with Stuart Faulkner
1st/2nd/3rd August 2023
Stuart is heading over to teach Term 3 of the Furniture Makers’ Programme and we have managed to sneak in a short course beforehand. In this 3-day course students will enjoy the experience of crafting and fitting a classic drawer.
A small sample drawer will be made in order to cover all the fine intricasies for a well made and well fitted drawer. Details are on our website here.
We have a few spaces still available on the following courses:
Intro to Carving - 12th/13th August
Intro to Spoon Carving 14th/15th August
Intro to Letter Carving 16th/17th August
Get in touch if you are interested...
THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS
It's been a busy few months with our visiting tutors and there's been a great buzz and energy in the short course workshop teaching area.
A huge thank you to Andy Buck, Hape Kiddle, Dave Gilberd of Goldbeard Guitars and Ben Grant for sharing their passion, wisdom and experience with our students.
Andy taught a 5-day design workshop during his fleeting visit to New Zealand and we talked him (& Ben & Lou) into staying around to carve a mobius with Hape - great sessions, great conversations and all very inspiring.
Hape Kiddle taught four different carving courses and organised some wonderful evening get togethers which we have now called "chip & chat" - chipping and chiseling timber, eating chips and hanging out with each other. Pure gold. Looking forward to the next visit Hape.
Ben was teaching assistant to Lou Fuller who taught the set project in Term 2 of the iconic David Haig hoop stool. Coincidentally, David Haig was teaching the same course at the same time at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine - the same project at both sides of the world! More about David's trip later in the newsletter.
Dave Gilberd had a full class of students making their own acoustic guitar with one student fulfilling a long ambition to create his own flamenco guitar. A fabulous three weeks with six stunning guitars and six very happy students.
So this is a little bit of me (Helen aka the manager) sharing my recent experience in the workshop. I am often asked if I do any woodworking and the answer is I don't. It's a pretty hectic but very fulfilling job running this special place, but I decided that I would participate in Hape Kiddle's Mobius/Gidgee 3-day course even though I was very busy and in the thick of a funding application. I turned off my phone, closed the office door and became a student. I absolutely loved it and was so proud of the piece I created - I could hardly believe it (Thanks Hape!).
Anyway the point of this story is that the experience made me truly understand how our students feel at the end of a course - happy, proud, focused, fulfilled, nourished, refreshed and taking away with them such a great sense of achievement (or in my case I was just downright smug).
Being creative is such an important part of our well being and brings a much better balance in life.
2024 FURNITURE MAKERS' PROGRAMME
Applications are still being considered for our 2024 Furniture Makers’ Programme – do get in touch if you have any questions, would like to arrange a visit or would like to discuss your application.
“Emerge” Exhibition
We showcased the work from the eight graduates of the 2022 Furniture Makers’ Programme at a new venue - the Parker Gallery here in Nelson which finished a couple of weeks ago. The exhibition was a roaring success and a wonderful celebration of the work produced by the students under the guidance of Lou Fuller, David Haig, Michael Fortune & Brian Reid.
Huge thanks to Leonie who owns the Parker Gallery for her faith in us, the time she took to engage with the students before the exhibition and giving them such an amazing opportunity to exhibit alongside well established artists in a commercial gallery setting.
A virtual video tour and the gallery of work is now available to view on our website here so please take a look.
Here are a few images to whet your apetite.
Beginners Intensive Programme - 16th October - 8th December 2023
We have had one student who has had to unfortunately pull out of the Beginners’ Intensive Programme which has been advertised as “Fully Booked” on our website for many months. Full details are here so if you are interested in applying for this lucky last place then get in touch.
Also a reminder that applications for the Thorkild Hansen Scholarship Programme to attend this 8-week course closes on 1st August. If you, or you know anyone who shows a talent for woodworking and fits the criteria to apply then please put forward an application. Full details are here.
David Haig MNZM
Fantastic news on the King's Birthday Honours List to hear that David was awarded the title of Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to woodworking.
Congratulations from everyone here who knows you Dave - we are super proud of you.
Here are a couple of excerpts from David's Instagram page whilst over the last six weeks he has been Artist in Residence at the Centre for Furniture Craftsmanship, Maine, USA.
"I have 4 weeks as Artist in Residence, followed by a two week Curvature class, which I will be co-teaching with the legendary Yuri Kobayashi. As Yuri is also the senior Fellow in the Residency and Fellowship building, and my bench is right opposite hers, it means I have six full weeks alongside Yuri..a huge honour and real pleasure.
With the other Fellowship interns as well as the final two weeks of the Nine month programme coming to an end and all their students with their superb exhibition already up, it really is a feast for a woodworker and I’m absolutely loving it. I'm working on a bench base I built 4 years ago during an earlier residency, (its beside me on the floor) but which I never felt was complete. So I'm working on fitting a simple back rest...well it'll look simple!
I also brought over a Hoop stool to have as an example for the Curvature class…it was interesting bringing it in its crate as extra baggage...there were a lot of different theories as to what it contained. But I'm posting today for another reason. On Monday, New Zealand time, the list of awards was made public in what was called the King's Coronation Honours List. To my utter amazement, my name was on that list. So I now have the letters after my name of being a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to Woodworking, which pleased me immensely as I've always thought of myself first and foremost as a woodworker. Plus it's one of the basic craft disciplines that is often overlooked, so it also helps putting woodworking on the map.
Of course my first reaction was "Why me?". There are better woodworkers out there, and some who've done a lot more than me in the field of, for instance, education. But then again, I didn't choose this, so I must accept this with gratitude and leave it for others to decide the relative merits of this award. Thanks for reading this far.....I am truly grateful and very honoured, but now I must get back to shaping......."
As always - nice to catch up with you all!
Thanks for taking the time to read what's been and is happening here.
Kind regards from the small but MIGHTY team.