23 April, 2013 : Christian Cole Furniture - Workshop visit and Sausage Sizzle
THIS IS A MEETING NOT TO BE MISSED!
Christian Cole is a qualified Cabinet and Furniture Maker, completing his apprenticeship 16 years ago. He specializes in the construction of solid timber kitchens, and has spent 2 years in the construction industry fitting out large commercial projects. Christian Cole Furniture was established 13 years ago and now has a loyal following around Australia and abroad.
http://www.christiancolefurniture.com.au
7.30pm
5 Dairy Drive
Coburg 3058
Link to map: http://goo.gl/maps/bBACI
26 March, 2013 - Ashley Eriksmoen
Ashley Jameson Eriksmoen studied fine woodworking at the College of the Redwoods before earning her M.F.A in Furniture Design at Rhode Island School of Design. Eriksmoen has taught design/woodworking at California College of the Arts, College of the Redwoods, Oregon College of Art & Craft, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Penland School of Craft, and is now Head of Furniture Workshop at ANU.
7.30pm
Level 1, Room 6
23 Cardigan St
Carlton
(RMIT Building #94)
Ashley Eriksmoen - March 2013 Meeting
11 December, 2012 - Christmas Drinks
7.30pm
5 Blackwood St
North Melbourne
30 October, 2012 - Blueprint Furniture
The VWA is offering our members and interested visitors a unique visit to Blueprint Furniture at 183 Laurens Street, North Melbourne. (Mel ref.2A E10).
Blueprint Furniture has established a vibrant furniture manufacturing business using reclaimed timber.
A meeting not to be missed! Drinks and snacks provided.
Time and Location:
7.30pm
183 Laurens St
North Melbourne (Mel ref 2A E10)
23 October, 2012 - Annual General Meeting
7.30pm
Small Conference Room
Meat Market
5 Blackwood St
North Melbourne
4 September, 2012 - Fisher Cricket Bats
Lachlan Fisher - master cricket bat maker - will guide us through his workshop in Kingsville where his bats are made.
Lachlan has worked professionally as a bat maker for 19 years and has produced over 12,000 hand made bats.
Lachlan will take us through his wonderful craft from tree to the finished cricket bat.
Time & Location:
7.30pm
Fisher Cricket Bats
126-128 Williamstown Rd
Kingsville VIC 3012
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/JIf3F
26 June, 2012 - "Meet the Tenants"
At this meeting our 5 tenants will be presenting a brief introduction to themselves, their career backgrounds, some of the work they have undertaken since being tenants at the Wood Design Centre, and their aspirations.
This is an opportunity for members to connect with the young blood of the industry, and for the tenants to meet and connect more with the VWA,
Time & Location:
7.30pm
Meat Market Conference Room
5 Blackwood St
North Melbourne
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/Igjs
29 May, 2012
Dharpa Djama - Wood Work
Damien Wright Studios
16/167 Beavers Rd
Northcote. 3070
Link to Map: http://g.co/maps/rbnsf
The VWA welcomes Bonhula Yunupingu of Gunyangara East Arnhem Land to Melbourne.
Bonhula is a Yolngu man from the Gumatj clan who are establishing a forestry programme and furniture studio on their community.
In 2010 at the request of Gumatj clan leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu, VWA president Damien Wright and his family relocated to Gunyangara to help establish the furniture studio.
Bonhula Yunupingu was made the Yolngu mentor. Together Damien and Bonhula set up a workshop and designed and made furniture with Gadayka, the local Darwin Stringybark.
Yolngu people have, for tens of thousands of years, used woodcraft and joinery techniques in the construction of art, boats, tools, weapons, musical instruments, and buildings. Despite the effects of colonization, these skills continue as part of the ritual of daily life. A goal of the Gumatj furniture project is to teach the European skills of furniture making and to develop a collaborative design aesthetic and process. But it is also to teach Balander (white people) about their skills, their life, their values.
Bonhula and Damien will give an illustrated talk on the Dharpa Djama studio and introduce the concept of Bala-ga-lilil -
Two ways Learning.
1 May 2012 - 7.30pm
A VWA Special Event!
Where:
Upstairs Meeting Room
North Melbourne Town Hall
Corner of Errol St and Queensberry St, North Melbourne.
Map below and also: http://g.co/maps/7qasr
Details:
We are honouring two of our most treasured members.
Firstly: Former Secretary Jane La Scala who will be inducted as a life member of the VWA.
As Secretary of the VWA for many years, Jane's intelligent, energetic, generous, committed and passionate approach to wood work and the wood working community has been a great gift to us all. Join us in acknowledging Jane's contribution.
Secondly: We are coming together to celebrate the incredible working life of Vic Wood. 
Anyone involved in wood-turning and wood working in Australia will be familiar with the work of Vic Wood. Many will have been taught, mentored or influenced by his work and demonstrations throughout Australia and the world.
Vic is one of our own. He is a founding member of the VWA, a past president and a Life Member.
On Australia Day, Vic's outstanding contribution to the wood working was formally recognised with a Medal of Order Of Australia - OAM.
We'd like to collectively congratulate Vic on his achievement. We have invited Vic to do a presentation of his life in wood.
This is an opportunity to come together - new and old members alike.
Vic and Jane's work has touched us all
Get the word out. Make sure you don't miss this unique event.
Make sure your wood working colleagues are present too.
Let us honour and respect our own.
Supper and drinks will be provided.
North Melbourne Town Hall
28 February 7.30pm
Where:
At the workshop of Will Goodsir
5 Parer St, Reservoir
Details:
Goodsir and Otto P/L is a joinery and furniture company established in Nov. 2010. Wil Goodsir and Andrew Otto have worked together as independent sole practioners on various projects over the past 19 years. Wil is a registered architect and Andrew is a qualified pattern maker.
G & O is creating a unique business by combining traditional woodcraft skills with contemporary manufacturing and computer aided design. This relationship requires the differences between the individual and the mass produced to be resolved.
Building networks with industry and outsourcing manufacturing offers G&O the resources to deliver projects far greater in complexity than our workshop alone could achieve. We are building the human resources required to piece together the jigsaw of parts made by today’s machines.
At the same time we search for opportunities to keep our furniture making skills and love of wood alive.
13 December 7.30pm: Christmas Drinks
Meat Market Conference Room
5 Blackwood St
North Melbourne
Map...
25 October: Annual General Meeting
Location:
Meat Market Conference Room
5 Blackwood St
North Melbourne
23 August: Andrew Potocnik. Wood Turner.
7:30pm, Conference Room. Meat Market Arts Centre
5 Blackwood Street North Melbourne 3051
A presentation by Andrew Potocnik. Wood turner
Over the past 15 years, Andrew Potocnik has built up a considerable reputation as one of Australia’s foremost wood turners. During this period, he has exhibited widely in Australia and the U.S.A., while his work is held in public and private collections worldwide. Andrew’s work has been featured in numerous publications, and is a regular writer for the Australian Wood Review, as well as other journals. Last but not least, Andrew is a woodcraft teacher at a Melbourne secondary college, and a longstanding member of the VWA.
An evening not to be missed!
Artist’s statement:
Ever since childhood, whenever I wanted, or needed, to make something, I found wood to be the first material I turned to. It wasn’t always the best choice, but it was a material I felt comfortable with, and one that I could convert into whatever I needed.
At high school, I met a teacher who encouraged creative use of wood, setting convention aside in order to encourage aspects that were radical at that time. He encouraged me to salvage and recycle wood, and even worse, he taught me to appreciate wood for its colour, smell, feel, grain and any other intrinsic quality it may have.
With an introduction like this, where else could I go, but continue to explore all those wonderful qualities every piece of wood conceals, just needing a sympathetic cut to expose it to those who see it as nothing more than a renewable resource, ready to be exploited, rather than appreciated!
Now, I gain enormous enjoyment from seeing how people from other cultures explore their wood, how they expose and celebrate its beauty, and how it’s integrated into their culture and general existence.
As an artist, I continually find inspiration to explore new directions in creating objects from wood.
As a teacher, I try to pass information on to my students, hoping that they too will be inspired to explore wood. Celebrating it as a living material that grows around us, as a material that can give voice to ideas conjured in our minds, as a material that says something about our culture and world.
Contact Will Matthysen 0438 984415 for any questions.
28 June 2011: Stephen Farquhar – Woodworking in the Internet Age
A presentation on a variety of topics under the heading of Woodworking in the Internet age, with a focus on recent technologies, including:
- Information sources – blogs, vlogs
- Sources of Video information and how to save those videos for later viewing
- Woodworking information on handheld devices – iPhone, Android, and applications
- Demystifying – RSS and newsfeeds
- Facebook – Do you “LIKE” it?
- and answering any questions
If you have any specific questions for Stephen or a general area of interest you would like explored, send Stephen an email: secretary@vwa.org.au
Address:
Meat Market Conference Room5 Blackwood Street
North Melbourne
19 Apr 2011: Adam Stewart's workshop.
Adam has a long history with woodworking and the VWA, having previously been a tenant of the Wood Design Centre, and currently a tutor at the VWA School of Woodcraft.
Address:
261 Albert StBrunswick VIC 3056
Click here for a link to a map: http://goo.gl/tuNAR
22 Feb 2011: Mark Tuckey Furniture
Note that the address is at Mark's workshop - NOT the showroom.
Address:
4 Anderson RdThornbury
Click here for a link to a map: http://goo.gl/TqxQZ