December 2023 Newsletter
Cheril Barber
Happy February !
The holidays are almost over and it seems like everyone is starting to settle back into a more routine pace of life. Here in Nelson the summer has been glorious and the sea a very nice temperature to dip in and cool off at the end of the working day.
Apparently there is a school of thought that the first thing you should do when returning from a holiday break is to plan the next one. So with that in mind, it seems like a good time to tempt you with our 2024 short course programme to help plan your visit to sunny Nelson and spend some time with us in our wonderful workshop (referred to by many of our students as “their happy place”).
If you are intending to take a break with your significant other there are options here in Nelson for creative events and classes that might occupy them whilst you are making wood shavings.....courses in jewellery, ceramics and textiles springs to mind Ask and if we can help we will. Also with a bit of forward planning don't forget to check out some good flight deals on Grabaseat - Nelson is one of the busiest airports in Aotearoa so there's often a bargain to be had.
Looking forward to seeing you here......
‘Embrace’ Cabinet
Maple, Silver Beech, European Beech by Ben Tindall
2023 – what a year.....reflecting on what we are proud of achieving over the last twelve months here are a few highlights:-
Welcoming back our international tutors – Michael Fortune, Brian Reid, Hape Kiddle, Andy Buck and Stuart Faulkner – all bringing huge experience and wisdom to pass on to our students – thank you all so much for being part of our team this year.
Our successful grant application from Creative New Zealand – allowing us to continue developing a new generation of teachers who have all been students here in the past and being mentored by some of the very best. Thank you Creative NZ for the wonderful support.
We welcomed our very first intern, Valentin Botcazou from France who joined us via the Erasmus Programme – Valentin has settled in and made himself very useful in such a short space of time. He has been designing and developing a new project amongst all the other jobs we have given him.
The arrival of our new sliding table saw (finally) – giving us a much more efficient machine room – reducing the possibility of bottle necks and improving efficiency. Stuart Faulkner on his visit to us created multiple jigs and shared his vast experience, tips and tricks with this machine.
Covid popped in to say hello a few times, but thankfully we managed to contain it from wiping out the entire workshop.
The Thorkild Hansen Scholarship was offered to two students this year – we had a cancellation at the eleventh hour just as the selection process was under way. Two youngsters were neck and neck with their applications so we offered them both a place. Read this great article just printed in the latest edition of the Nelson Magazine about the scholarship and our fabulous school.
We had to delay the 2022 Furniture Makers’ Programme to allow the borders to reopen and invite our overseas tutors back – this meant we had a term overlap between the 2022 and the 2023 full time programme which in turn meant that we have had two graduate exhibitions in one year!
So you can see – we have been very busy – to be more precise we have had the pleasure of teaching 174 students this year alone. No wonder we are ready for a break.
What’s happening in 2024 you ask?
The iconic David Haig Hoop Stool is back!
This beautiful piece is loved by everyone and has been part of our short course and full time programme projects almost since the very beginning. It hasn’t been on our short course programme for quite a few years.........but now it is! David Haig has kindly given permission for us to continue this project in our programme whilst he and Lou Fuller start developing another short course which will be all about the bends (more about that early next year).
This intermediate level course will fill up fast so we are running in twice in 2024 - 17th – 28th June and again on 30th September – 11th October.
This course will be co-taught by Lou Fuller and Ben Grant who have been teaching this together previously on the full time programme.
Full details are here
If you would like to enrol then please get in touch.
Having encountered a number of significant issues beyond our control, we have made the momentous decision to take a one year hiatus on our prestigious Furniture Makers’ Programme. Had we struggled through and proceeded with the programme next year would have required detrimental compromises on the course content and delivery. We are not prepared to diminish our flagship Furniture Makers’ Programme which has run successfully for 16 years. Although generally we are quite modest (it’s a Kiwi thing) we know that our full time programme has a fantastic world wide reputation – proven by the fact that places on the 2025 Programme are already being offered. So if you are considering making an expression of interest or would like to enrol on the 2025 programme details are here – you are welcome to get in touch, come and visit
What we will do next year is expand the range of short courses on offer, as well as work with our emerging tutors to help them step up and strengthen our local pool of tutors. We will also be involved in some specific professional development programmes delivered in the secondary education sector - we have been asked to share our knowledge and experience and help upskill various groups of technology teachers so that their students continue to be interested and engaged in woodworking. Hopefully both the teachers and their students will become future students of ours.
Here is a link to an updated Short Course Programme calendar which you can print off and ponder over. Most courses have the information already on our website, but a few courses are still being finalised and you will get an update in the next newsletter. We are also working on an up-to-date flyer with some suggestions for accommodation options to help you plan your trip.
Hape Kiddle Carving Courses
We are delighted to announce the annual return of our dear friend Hape Kiddle who will be with us for a few weeks in the middle of 2024. For those of you who haven’t met Hape yet – he is a gifted and generous teacher and now offers a permanent slot in our programme for you to come and play
Due to popular demand and courses always being fully booked we will be running again the Mobius course, the Seed Pod course and the Netsuke course. We will be adding in a new intermediate level course for those students who have already participated in any or all of his other three existing courses – details will be available very soon.
Hape has just opened his solo exhibition "Holding Time" at the Woodworks Gallery in Bungendore, NSW until the end of February.
Here
There is stillness
And quiet
In this grain
Is the history of the world
In my hands is kinship
I am holding time..
If you are in that neck of the woods it is a must see.
Tuku 24 Whakatu
We are pleased to be involved in this annual six weeks event sharing Nelson’s unique stories of people and places which is happening in April/May next year. The courses that we have running throughout this event are the Plane Making course, the Drawer Making course and the 2-week Introduction to Chair Making course.
We will also throw open the doors to the public and have an Open Day in early May– something we haven’t done for quite a while now – more about this early next year.......
And last but not least – we are selling a Wadkin 3-phase jointer – which is currently listed on Trade Me – but if you are interested then get in touch. We also have a small Hitachin Thicknesser (referred to by Lou as a lunch-box thicknesser as it’s small and compact) – again if you are interested then get in touch.
Have a lovely holiday – whatever you are doing, whoever you are with – enjoy.
Kind regards from us all here.