Blue Mountains Life – August-September 2019

I designeda sofathatusednomechanical

fixingsandcouldbepulledapartandmoved.

I enteredthispieceintheCountryRoad

FurnitureDesignAwardsandwasoneofthe 3

finalistsinthefurniturecategory.CountryRoad

hadthedesignmanufacturedasa prototypeas

partofbeinga finalist.

ThisprocesstaughtmethatI hadlotsof

designideas,butI didn’thavemanymaking

skillsorunderstandingofthemanufacturing

process.

I decidedformetobecomebetteratdesign,I

wouldneedtoknowhowthefurnitureis made.I

neededtounderstandthematerialsofwoodand

metal,andhowyoucanusethemstructurallyand

visuallytoproduceinterestingdesigns.

I enrolledatTheCanberraSchoolofArt,

andstudiedwoodworkunderthetutelageof

GeorgeInghama renownedfurnituredesigner

andmaker.Thecoursewaslikea 2-year

apprenticeship;weworkedeverydaylearning

handtoolsandtraditionalwoodworking.It was

anamazingcourseandtaughtmesomuch

aboutfinewoodworking.

Q

Afteryoufinishedstudying,didyouthink

it wouldbedauntingtoentersucha male-

dominatedfield?

A

I workedforfurnituremakerScottMitchell

in Canberrafora shortwhileandit gaveme

theconfidencetofuthermycareerin thefield.

NowI mostlyworkonmyown,butI keepin touch

withotherfurnituremakerstodiscussjobs.

Q

Is it hardtobecreativewhensomeclients

havea verylimitedbudget?

A

Weoftenworktogethertocomeupwith

designsolutions.Youdon’tgettomake

thingsthatareartisticorchallengingif it’sbeyond

people’sbudgets.I makebasicbutinteresting

woodenscreendoorsasmybreadandbutter.I

oftenfindclientslooktometosuggestmaterials

andforhelpwithdesigndetails.Thiscanbequite

a satisfyingwaytowork!

I recentlystartedcarvingspoonsasanartistic

outlet.I usegreenwoodworkingtechniques,

withanaxe,a whittlingknifeanda hookknifeas

mytools.It’sa relaxingwaytoworkcomparedto

usingheavymachinery,withthedustandnoise.

I’dlovetolearnmoreaboutgreenwoodworking

techniquesinfurnitureandhowI canapplythat

tomyteaching,particularlywithchildren.

Q

Youhaveworkedonsomeimportant

projectsovertheyears,includingyourown

home.Canyoutellusa bitmoreaboutthem.

A

I workedoncommissionsforresidential

projectsaswellasinstitutionssuchasthe

UniversityofCanberra,OranaSteinerschool

inCanberra, andlocally,KindlehillSchoolin

WentworthFalls.

Webuiltourownstrawbalehousein

Woodford 10 yearsagoandmadeallthewindow

anddoors.I hadn’tthoughtthatwassomething

I coulddo,butonceI lookedathowtomakea

window,I realisedit wasjustfurnituremakingon

a biggerscale.

I spenta shorttimeafterthatworkingat

BranchesTimbercraftinLawson,whereI

developeda deeperunderstandingofmaking

qualitytimberwindowanddoors.

It wasa fantasticexperienceandMattConnelly

hasbeenreallysupportivesinceI workedthere.

Thiswasa turningpointformywork,andI find

thatI amabletosustaina businessmaking

windows,doorsaswellasfurniture.

Q

You’vestartedrunningwoodworkclasses

forwomen.Howdidtheyevolve?

A

Friendsoftenaskedmehowtheycould

learnwoodwork.Theyfeltintimidatedby

goingtoclasseswhichwereattendedandrun

bymen.

I runtheworkshopsinsmallgroupina

supportiveenvironment,teachinghand-skills,

usingpowertools,andsomemachinery.For

somewomen,theyhaveneverusedanytoolsor

madeanythingoutofwood.Soit'sempowering

forthemtoknowtheycandoit forthemselves!

I recentlystartedrunningspooncarving

classesforwomenwithmyfriendJillDay.

Werunanintroductoryworkshopaswellas

ongoinginformalspooncarvingclassesatNauti

StudiosinHazelbrook.

I alsorunafter-schoolclassesforchildren

aged8-15yearsaswellasclassesforhome

schoolers.Theyaresoenthusiastic! Oftenthey

haven’tbeengiventheopportunitytoexplore.

WiththesmallergroupsI run,andwitha keen

focusonsafetyandworkingsafely,weareable

tousehandsaws,chisels,cordlessdrill,and

evena drillpress.

Thechildrenproducesomeamazingresults!bml

ToseesomeofGeorgina'slatestcreative

works,andformoreinformationabouther

woodworkingbusiness,workshopsandclasses,

goto‘GeorgieDonovanDesigner/maker’on

FacebookandInstagram‘georgie5donovan’

For some women, they have never

used any tools or made anything out

of wood. So it's empowering for them

to know they can do it for themselves!

Woodwork for Women

class in action.

Photo by Ona Janzen

Fruit and

vegetable

display stand.

Commissioned

by the Blue

Mountains

Food Co-op in

Katoomba.

Learning knife work,

a student at a spoon

carving workshop.

PEOPLE

34 Blue Mountainslife