In Memory of William Bayliss, 1998–2024

Above: Will Bayliss in 2020, at work on the Wilcannia cabinet. Every drawer had a different set of angles and only one had a front that was parallel with the floor. Even the bases were kerf-cut to gentle curves. Photo: Daniel Allen

Reflections from mentors and colleagues on the work and life of William Bayliss, 1998–2024.

When an older person dies we mourn, and there’s an opportunity to celebrate their past. When someone young who was already accomplished and showed so much promise, is suddenly gone, there’s a very different sense of loss.

William Bayliss died 11 November, 2024 in a car accident. He was 26 years old and notable as an award winner. Apprentice of the Year in 2018, Wootha Prize winner in 2019, fellowship recipient at the Centre for Fine Woodworking NZ the following year, and in 2021 Wood Review’s Overall Maker of the Year. In 2023, Will picked up another Maker of the Year award for his then-named Wilcannia cabinet. In 2024, another Wootha Prize furniture award followed, and there seemed no end to it. From age 16, Will worked in the Queanbeyan, NSW workshop of Evan Dunstone. He cut his teeth on production and custom work to fully qualify as a trade cabinetmaker.

Having met Will several times and interviewed him during his New Zealand residency, I can say that in person he was well and quietly spoken, articulate and friendly. Watching him work on the Wilcannia cabinet and then the crate that would carry it back to Australia, I saw him move around the workshop with the pace and confidence of a professional.

Test fitting drawers for the Wilcannia cabinet, each had a different set of angles and curves. Photo: Daniel Allen

There was an immediate sense of shock in the woodworking community when the news of Will’s death came. Many who didn’t know him personally certainly knew of his work and knew that he was one to watch. Young and already expert, he was kicking goals for a new generation of makers. For older makers, here was someone who would keep the faith and take the craft forward. In terms of skills, Will had the goods, and I for one was looking forward to seeing the direction his design work would take.

It’s with much sadness we extend our sincere condolences to Will’s partner, family, colleagues and friends. Examples of work designed and made by William Bayliss are shown here. The reflections below are written by his mentors and colleagues.

Linda Nathan, Editor

Mundi Mundi entrance table. ‘Inspired by the sunrise landscape over the Mundi Mundi plains with the sunlight hitting the caps of the highpoints of the topography. The tactile fluted top draws the hand and the eye to explore. Suspended by a light but sturdy curved base lifting the energy of the piece.’ Words and photo: Will Bayliss

William was very bright but hated school. Show me a dyslexic introvert, and I’ll show you a potential master craftsperson.

William started with us before his 17th birthday. I had to learn how to read him; William’s body language, not his tongue, told you if he understood, or disagreed, or had a better idea.

I trained him to be our cabinet specialist. We made all the commissioned cabinets together until he no longer needed me. Somewhere in that third year, the future William emerged.

William could hold complex relationships steady in his head in a way that I can’t. I need to sketch components, intersections and relationships. William could simply ‘see’ them. Woodworkers can get obsessed with technique and can be blind to beauty. It’s the craft that taste forgot. I wanted William to be free of technique, to be able to approach any design problem with mastery. To focus on the beauty, not the process, and he excelled.

Detail of Mundi Mundi entrance table. Photo: Will Bayliss

At 20, William won a scholarship to study under the Canadian master, Michael C. Fortune, at the Centre for Fine Woodworking in Nelson, New Zealand. The timing was perfect. He was desperate for some freedom.

In New Zealand, William’s core hand skills and deep understanding of process allowed him to achieve whatever he put his mind to. William left Australia as a maker and returned seven weeks later as a designer.

William hated the limits of practicality. His Torrent HiFi cabinet, which won the Wootha Prize when he was 20, was the last piece he made for himself that could be described as ‘practical’. All his subsequent private designs were consciously, even daringly, whimsical. He couldn’t care less if they didn’t sell. He made his living as a craftsman, and he won competitions for his own amusement in his own time.

And then, in June of 2024, he designed his Canopy Light for a Dunstone Design client. It was beautiful, sculptural, impeccably crafted and commercially viable. William had found a key to the future. And five months later, he was dead.

William could be a difficult employee. He hated making things that he felt were beneath him. I once gave him a simple plywood cabinet to make for a client (it was basically done as a favour to the client), and it was back two weeks later with the door falling off. William was so insulted by the project that he barely gave it any attention. But he was incredibly fast and confident if the work engaged him. His speed when making a complex cabinet was unparalleled. He was, in my heavily biased opinion, the greatest craftsman of his generation.

Evan Dunstone @dunstonedesign, furniture designer maker, Queanbeyan, NSW

William Bayliss’ Bunyjul Occasional Table in jarrah with rock maple detailing was the winning Maker of the Year entry in 2021. Bunyjul is the word for frillneck lizard in the Nugal-warra language. Will wrote how this table explores the shapes and textures of organic forms to create a piece that is both sculptural and whimsical. ‘There’s an obvious nod to Alan Peters’ Fan Table in this design, but I’ve taken Peters’ basic form in a more organic direction. “Through others, we become ourselves.” – Lev Vygotsky.’ Photo: Will Bayliss

It’s hard to believe that Will was a colleague of mine for nearly a decade. The world of woodwork that we both inhabit is very different to the one the vast majority of woodworkers live in – this is our job, our careers.

At lunch, the conversations were around Will’s latest passion over some type of antiquated technology, whether it be the Lazer Disk or Vintage Victor push mowers. Rarely did we discuss things like which glue to use, but if we did the conversations were raw and honest. When it came to his work, Will was deeply passionate, and would defend his position to the death.

This shows in his work. Will would get fixated on the piece he was working on, whether it be for himself or for the workshop. This fixation was in many ways kind of manic. If he could, he would have worked non-stop until it was complete. When finished he was highly critical of his creation, to the point where within a week, he seemed not to care about it and just focused on whatever was next.

Detail of Will Bayliss’ Bunyjul Occasional Table. Photo: Will Bayliss

Will could at times prove to be challenging to manage, as this drive and determination ran to his core. There were many times where for his own good, and for the good of the work, he just needed to slow down and take a deep breath. He was an incredible maker and that was inherent within him.

In many ways conventional ‘woodwork’ be dammed, he didn’t let ‘this is how it should be’ or technique get in the way, and this could lead to exciting and interesting creations.

Will will be deeply missed in the workshop, both for his brooding intensity, and for the fun joyous moments of seeing him shuffling away while doing a glue-up, or showing you how finely tuned to monkeys his Instagram algorithm was. Sadly, there were too few Friday after-work beers had together.

Alex MacFarlane, workshop manager at Dunstone Design

William’s later rendition of the design he developed in New Zealand was a category winner in Maker of the Year awards 2023. Will wrote: ‘I’m inspired by Australia’s arid woodlands. The Wilcannia Cabinet captures the organic, twisted shapes of the arid bush through movement, asymmetry and interconnection. Every aspect of the Wilcannia Cabinet offers surprising geometry. Just as many inland trees resist conventional uses, the cabinet suggests function, but resists it at the same time. The drawers are memory vessels, not practical storage. The understructure is strong but flexible, allowing the cabinet to quiver in response to its environment.’ "Trees, planets, rivers, time know nothing else. They express it moment by moment as the universe. – Les Murray”. Photo: Will Bayliss

Will designed and made magnificent furniture without limitation. Some woodworkers are encumbered by ‘I’II design what I already know how to do’. Not Will, every sketch explored forms and challenging techniques new to him. He had an incredible ability to visualise and construct complex joinery even early in his career.

I met Will in 2020, the youngest applicant for a $5,000 scholarship for a residency with me at The Centre for Fine Woodworking in New Zealand. Will arrived, very quiet, kinda slouchy. I realised later it was a disguise which he topped off with a worn baseball hat that only partially acknowledged the original shape.

The residency outline had the students go through a specific design sequence leading to the construction of a unique piece of furniture. Will quickly generated page after page of very fluid ideas that led to a wonderful volume of surprising 3D pencil renderings. ‘Where did you learn to draw like that?’, was met with a slight grin. He intuitively knew it would help his design sense.

Wilcannia Cabinet, detail. Photo: Will Bayliss

Once he was introduced to the history of the finest furniture, I think he saw it as a dare to create his own interpretation. Refining his woodworking skills was integral to that goal.

Will worked efficiently. When something that didn’t feel right he would remake several variations rather than just stew over the issue. It gave him confidence to go where he’d never been before.

What created his passion for woodworking? People, apprenticing with Evan Dunstone. Places, working with a supportive group in New Zealand, seeing the creative woodworking at the gallery in Bungendore and not least, his desire for pursing the unusual in life and his furniture.

Michael Fortune @michaelfortune, designer maker, Canada

Canopy Light. Designed in 2024, Evan Dunstone writes: ‘It was beautiful, sculptural, impeccably crafted and commercially viable’.

Will was a fairly closed book when we first met. He was at work to work and seemed introverted and reserved. For the first couple of months, beyond his intense interest in quirky vintage cars, I had no idea what he was like outside of the workshop.

But one week, Evan and Alex went to Melbourne for a couple days on a delivery and left Will and me to man the workshop. The conversations that we had that week in the smoko room were the beginning of a friendship I’m so grateful to have had. And as it turns out, Will was one of the most interesting people I ever met. I looked forward to seeing him every day at work, and it was an even better day if we got to chat while oiling, gluing up or if he was mentoring me on a project. We’d have long conversations about nonsense things like debating how filling duck and chicken were by comparison and preference, or the perfect dinner party arrangements, down to potlucks with secret chefs.

Detail of Canopy Light. Photo: Will Bayliss

Will was one of the most creative people I’ve ever met, in his work life and outside of it. As a designer and a maker, he was extraordinary. Evan designs with functionality at the forefront, but Will was free of that constraint. His work was a way for him to explore form and beauty without limitation. As I got to know him, I realised that he was always exploring, always finding that exciting thing about the people he met and in the things he did. I loved how through his designs he was able to make whimsy and elegance have a sophisticated conversation. I’ve not seen another maker walk the same line so flawlessly.

William Bayliss will always have my respect, admiration and love, through the things he did, what he taught me and the friend he was. He created pieces that told a story we should all learn from: there is fun to be had here.

Aditi Sargeant @sargeantmaker