Neale Thompson: 'Experience, failure and success are the best teachers.'
Neale Thompson is a self-taught furniture maker who lives in central Victoria. He exhibits locally through the the Soldiers Hill Artist Collective and sells his work via Salt Contemporary Art in Queenscliff. Neale has entered two pieces in this year's Maker of the Year awards, Ripple Effect and Spotted Gum and Jarrah. We asked Neale about his background and the insights that 30 years of woodworking have given him.
Q: Where do you live and how do you think it affects your woodwork?
I live in the regional city of Ballarat, in central Victoria. We have a vibrant artisan community in and around our town so it’s a great place to connect with other people plying their trade. We are able to access materials and equipment locally and from Melbourne which allows me to produce work of a high quality.
Neale Thompson, Riveresque, native cedar, recycled redgum. Photo courtesy Salt Contemporary Art
Q: How (and when) did you get into woodworking?
My interest started with home renovation 30+ years ago. Looking back on my early attempts at furniture is a way of reminding myself of the development and refinement I have attained in the pieces I produce today. My professional job is school teaching and this has removed any pressure to make a living from furniture making. I initially helped a friend in his cabinetmaking business during the school holidays and this was my first real experience with hand tools and machinery. Over time I have slowly built up my resources so that I can pretty much do everything I need to from home.
Q: You say you are self-taught. It's one thing to read books and magazines and watch videos – but how do we teach ourselves effectively? Can we shortcut the process?
Showing others, particularly our young people, what to do and then letting them try for themselves is really important. Experience, failure and success are the best teachers. And no shortcuts!
Aside from helping my friend, I regularly attended woodworking shows and chatted with the presenters to gain insights into their work. I purchased books and magazines, especially the Wood Review, and used the various stories and articles to develop my skills and knowledge. Of course, the world wide web has meant I can learn from a vast resource, and converse with the many skilled makers across the globe.
Q: What's your attitude to the materials itself? What guides your choice of woods?
My philosophy regarding materials is to use what is at hand. This extensively involves recycled or reclaimed materials and drives my designs. Theses reclaimed materials have come from local salvage yards and from kind neighbours and acquaintances. I typically use Australian timbers as these are more readily sourced. A favourite species would probably be redgum. I do like contrast in the pieces I make mainly in terms of species but more recently I have included some textural elements such as grooved or carved work.
Q: What's important to you when making a piece? Where do you stand on accuracy versus expediency?
Producing contemporary pieces utilising Australian timbers and showcasing hand derived joinery and finishes. Inherently, every join produced by hand will vary but one aims for precision at all times.
Neale Thompson, Receding Gum, various hardwoods. Photo courtesy Salt Contemporary Art
In the beginning, the design process was the key driver behind the pieces I produced. Every element would be planned meticulously – dimensions, techniques, outcomes. Inevitably, problem solving skills were required which are still used to this day.
A confidence to be more open with design means that now I am not restricted to following a set of well laid out drawings but rather challenged by the materials at my disposal. The philosophy becomes ‘that which can be made from that which as at hand’.
Q: Who are your woodworking heroes/gods/gurus?
Leon Sadubin – a wonderful example of a person’s continued passion for his craft.
Q: What is your desert island hand tool and machine? And why?
A Japanese paring chisel because it allows precise joins to be attained and my planer/thicknesser as it refines the raw product to usable proportions.
Q: Your most often-made mistake?
Cutting the wedges either too narrow or too wide for wedged tenons
Q: Your biggest woodworking disaster!!?
Painstakingly laying out and cutting a series of through wedged tenons only to realise upon assembly that the desired symmetrical layout was indeed not achieved. My intention with the piece in question was to attain a symmetrical balance in the final outcome regardless of the angle from which it was viewed. I had spent numerous hours marking out and cutting mortises and tenons by hand, fine tuning and dry fitting joints til I was satisfied that all was in place. It was literally in the final glue up phase that it became evident that I had marked one set of corresponding tenons in the wrong place. Annoyance, then disappointment, finally acceptance I could not change the result.
Detail of Ripple Effect, entered in 2025 Maker of the Year, presented by Carbatec
Q: The thing I would most like to change about my own woodworking is…
Developing a greater ability to use hand planes to produce a super smooth finish.
Q: What do you love most about woodworking?
The challenge of working with the materials at hand and the vagaries of recycled timbers and visualising what a piece might look like and then the realisation of that work
Q: My best tip to other makers is…
Look, listen, ask, try, and keep trying. Learning new skills and continuing to practice these skills knowing there is always room for improvement. Exhibiting my work has allowed me to gain feedback from people from a variety of sectors in the community and has given me confidence to enter awards and competitions. My involvement in our local artist group, SHAC or Soldiers Hill Artist Collective, has enabled me to learn from artisans working in their own discipline and opened my eyes to the amazing array of art that exists.
Images supplied by Neale Thompson, learn more about Neale at @n.t_designs
Maker of the Year, presented by Carbatec, is a competition for all makers, amateur, professional and student, and showcases the wonderful things they make from wood. In 2025 we present a series of interviews with some of the makers who have already entered their work.
Maker of the Year, presented by Carbatec is open for entry to makers all over the world. In addition to awards totalling A$19,500 in value, The Jan Pennell Award (A$1,500) will be made to an entry that displays outstanding woodturning. This entry will be selected from the Top 100 shortlisted entries across all Maker of the Year categories including Furniture, Arts & Objects and Student. Local and international makers are eligible to win this award.
In addition, the A$1000 Recycled & Rescued Award will be made to an entry that displays outstanding use of recycled and reused materials. This entry will also be selected from the Top 100 shortlisted entries across all categories. Local and international makers are eligible to win this award.
Enter Maker of the Year, presented by Carbatec
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