Edge exhibition to explore boundaries
Above: Genesis side table by Warwick Jones
Edge Studio Woodworkers Australia exhibition, Feb 16 – March 29, 2020 at Sturt Gallery, Mittagong, NSW.
From Sturt Gallery, Mittagong, NSW: What is it that compels people to make beautiful things from wood? For a remarkable few the call is so strong that they leave behind their former life as a pilot, GP, research scientist, tax expert and even reality TV star to spend thousands of hours cutting, carving, sanding and polishing objects that may be cherished for generations to come.
The Studio Woodworkers of Australia are the best of the best and since finding their calling with timber these special men and women have spent years mastering their craft. Many are now guiding new generations of craftsmen and women with the same powerful compulsion to do incredible things with wood.
Warwick 'Waz' Jones was a crowd favourite and grand final winner of popular reality TV show, The Block in 2011 before turning his love for wood into a full time sustainable profession. He now runs ‘Fallen’, a fine furniture studio based in Gosford on the Central Coast of NSW. David Muston was a GP who was quietly designing and making bespoke furniture for Anibou on weekends before setting up his own studio, Muvono. David counts among his friends architect Glenn Murcutt and has designed bespoke furniture for Glenn's own home. Evan Dunstone was a bush pilot busy crop dusting and cattle mustering before his epiphany walking into the Bungendore Woodworks Gallery and discovering his creative calling.
They are among the 20 expert makers who've been invited to design and create work beyond the boundaries of their comfort zone pushing them to their limits of creativity in 'Edge', an exciting new exhibition opening this February at Sturt Gallery & Studios in Mittagong. From Adelaide to Warrandyte, Bungendore to Byron their work springs from the studios of the most diversely skilled artisans in the country. The result is an inspiring show that renews faith in the value of beautiful things made with incredible patience, skill and intent.
That same opening weekend it's the annual pilgrimage to Mittagong for Sturt School for Wood's Tools & Techniques Weekend with woodwork demonstrations by leading furniture makers along with sales and displays of tools for those wanting to hone their skills or to likewise succumb to the seductive call of the craft.
What: Edge Studio Woodworkers Australia
When: Feb 16 – March 29, 2020
Opening: 11am, Sunday Feb 16 by David Boucher, Founder & CEO of Boucher & Co
Where: Sturt Gallery, Mittagong, NSW, see www.sturt.nsw.edu.au
Learn more about Studio Woodworkers Australia at www.studiowoodworkers.org.au