Since 1990 I have been creating furniture from our native hardwood timber, sustainably harvested from windfall* trees sourced from ‘Gleniston’ on the Goulburn River, Upper Hunter Valley.

Colin harvesting windfall timber with a little help
Solid trees that have died from natural causes are harvested for furniture, leaving those with hollows are left for wildlife habitat.

Most of my work comes from my own inspiration and the challenge of designing pieces specifically to suit individual patron’s needs and vision.

My aim is to create lightness of form with proportions and finish to expose the true grain and nature of the timber from which it is created; and to produce furniture that has functional integrity while pleasing to the eye and smooth to the touch. My furniture ranges from large colonial dressers, hall cabinets, beds and bookcases to kitchen, living room and reading tables as well as small boxes, servers and spoons, verandah and garden sculptural seats.

Influenced by the tradition of 19th and 20th Century Australian and American country furniture (in particular the austere Shaker style of simple purity of line and an honesty to materials) my wood-working skills have grown and developed through wide reading and practice based learning, both mentored and encouraged by Frank Watters and Julia Mullins Imrie.

The individually designed work uses the inherent strength and density of the local hardwood timbers to create unpretentious furniture with a lightness of form complimented by intricate wood grain.  Features include mortise and tenon joints secured with ironbark pins and non toxic resin based glues. Dovetail joins are also used and doors and drawers with floating panels. The dense grain of the hardwood timber is polished to a silky lustre then hand finished with orange oil and carnauba wax. This gives a mellow, smooth and sensual feel, enhancing the unique natural faults and patterning especially of ironbark and cypress.

Each piece is stamped with our name, where and when it was made and the species used. My workshop runs from a solar power system in keeping with an evidence based approach to environmental sustainability.


 
* trees blown down by the wind or other natural forces.

Allocasuarina salad servers_2

Timbers used include:

Ironbark
Grey box
Black Cypress
Bull-oak
Drooping She-oak
Ironbark Wattle
Silky — Oak
Stone Pine
Camphor Laurel

 

Eucalyptus crebra
Eucalyptus mollucana
Callitris endlicheri
Allocasuarina leuhmannii
Allocasuarina verticillata
Acacia linearifolia
Grevillea robusta
Pinus Pinea (exotic)
Cinnamomum camphora (exotic)