| Q:
Okay we know you like it, but how did
you get into woodworking?
A:
I had been making things in my father’s
workshop for as long as I can remember, or just
tinkering, and blunting his tools. I would get
an idea and just run with it, and lose myself
in what I was doing. In essence I am still doing
that now, only difference is that I now do it
for a living, and blunt my own tools.
Q:
Who are your woodworking heroes/gods/gurus?
A:
I’m not really big on heroes, gods or
gurus; but I enjoy the company of people who
display modest amounts of contentment, commitment
and compassion, and not necessarily in that
order.
Q:
What do you mainly make?
A:
Although I had made my first clocks in my teens,
over the past 20 years or so I have made about
150 clocks. They are mainly sculptural timepieces
made predominantly in wood, but also including
brass, steel, glass and other composite materials.
I design, prototype and make all the components,
including the mechanical components such as
the wheels and pinions, as well as the clock
case or cabinet. I feel it is important to get
all aspects right, both the functional as well
as the aesthetic. It has to work reliably and
keep good time as well as be visually and compositionally
resolved. It is time consuming work (no pun
intended! ha, ha), which leaves little time
for much else. In another life I would like
to make chairs.
Q:
Your thoughts on traditional vs ‘new’
and digital?
A:
In the overall scheme of things they are all
means to an end. First and foremost, you have
to enjoy what you are doing, and I believe the
journey is as important as the destination.
The technology, in whatever form, is purely
a means to get you there. If it begins to control
your life, or the nature of your work, to the
detriment of the creative process, its time
to hit the off button. At best, new or digital
technology can remove the drudgery and open
new creative possibilities, but nothing can
remove the need for mastery of traditional techniques.
Technical competence and knowledge of one’s
craft is the prerequisite to self-expression.
Q:
What are you pet woodworking hates?
A:
Cleaning up the workshop. Fortunately I have
two teenage sons who I periodically have to
beg, bribe and cajole to help out.
Q:
What is your desert island hand tool/
machine/ timber/ woodie book?
A:
My desert island hand tool would be my whittling
knife. It is the equivalent to a 6B pencil,
great for sketching in 3D. My machine tool would
be a milling machine with dividing head, preferably
with power feed and digital readout! It is hard
work trying to make a clock without one. This
also assumes the desert island has 3 phase power!
My timber would be gidgee, well, it is a desert
timber, works beautifully, and looks and smells
great. My woodie book would be In Praise of
Hands by Octavio Paz. He writes with such clarity
and eloquence.
Q:
The best thing you’ve ever made?
A:
Still waiting for that.
Q:
Your best excuse for not getting something
quite right?
A:
I’m still learning, I’ll give it
another go next time.
Q:
Your most often-made mistake?
A:
Underpricing my work.
Q:
Your biggest woodworking disaster!!?
A:
Still waiting for that too!
Q:
The thing I would most like to change
about wood is…
A:
Nothing. I love the complexity, subtlety, and
almost infinite diversity of the material. It
can be challenging, often infuriating, to work
with, but never boring; it doesn’t abide
fools, has a mind of its own, and only reveals
itself to the patient and persistent. It was
a living organism, and our task is to bring
it back to life again.
Q:
The thing I would most like to change
about woodworkers is…
A:
Again, nothing. I don’t believe it is
my role to change people, least of all woodworkers!
If anything they are an inspiration to me, I
look at the work of other woodies and say, ‘How
did he/she do that? I wish I could do it!’
Q:
The thing I would most like to change
about my own woodworking is…
A:
Adding further complexity, refinement, balance,
proportion, and finish. It is a never ending
process.
Q:
My final word on woodwork is…
A:
It is a way of life, not a job.
Email Will at: matthysen@bigpond.com
Visit his website: www.willmatthysen.com
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