Beautiful Woodcraft from the South Pacific

I live and work in a tiny town in the foothills of the Southern Alps in the far south of the South Island.

I have been interested in the beautiful patterns and textures of wood since I was a child, and have been making objects from wood for thirty years.

I love working with NZ native timbers, and highlighting their beauty for others to enjoy.

Recycled and Found Timbers:
All wood used in my products is sourced from fully sustainable sources, including old furniture, construction timber, forklift pallets and driftwood.

In decades gone by, now rare NZ native timbers were used widely in the building industry. Usually this was not with a view to highlighting the beauty of the wood, but merely as a framing timber or for sarking and weatherboards. Often the most beautiful features – the knots and burls and curly grain that fill a piece with character – made the timber too prone to warping or twisting and much was wasted or burnt to power the steam driven sawmills.

As a child I became fascinated by the flamed maple back on my violin; the iridescence and rippling 3D effect. I was happy to discover this same effect as a property of Tawhai (NZ Silver Beech) and Tawhai Raunui (Red Beech), both of which grow here in Southland. I have been collecting suitable pieces, as well as other native timbers for 35 years as driftwood from beaches and from broken furniture, building demolitions or alterations.

Creating objects of beauty from timber that may otherwise have been dumped, or burnt for firewood brings me joy, and I hope that joy can be shared.

Beech Burrs:
Tawhai or NZ Beech trees are sometimes attacked by a fungus (commonly called “Beech strawberry”) that causes the tree to form a gnarled growth around the site of the infestation.

These burrs can sometimes grow to a considerable size and are much prized by woodworkers for their beautiful figure.

These trees cannot be harvested from the conservation estate, even as fallen trees, so Beech burrs have become increasingly rare and valuable.

They make beautiful box tops, or decorative inlays.

As wood is a natural product, and I am an actual human, none of my pieces are perfect, but they are all made to the best of my ability, mostly taking more time than is economically viable. If you order from me and are not delighted with what you receive, please let me know as soon as you can and I will do what I can to fix that.