I happened upon Mark and his wood workshop purely by chance. I was looking for a piece of reclaimed timber for a bench seat. Having never assembled any kind of furniture beyond Ikea bookshelves, I was up for a challenge. I did a Google for 'woodworker Newcastle NSW' and up popped Mark's site. A phone call later and it wasn't long before I was in Mark's inner-suburban garage workshop and heading to his storage unit to select a piece of timber.
Woodworker extraordinaire, Mark Aylward
Just like his workshop, there's no clue to the level of detail hiding behind Mark's facade till you start start prodding. He's turning out work that's top-notch so it's hard to believe that this wood-working caper is only years old. Mark's also up for a yarn. I've found out about Con's 2nd-Hand Building Materials (20 Gipps St, Carrington), treatments for timber finishes and the best places to scuba dive around Newcastle (Swansea Bridge, Halifax Point, Fly Point & Boat Harbour at Port Stephens, The Fisherman's Co-op at Nelson Bay and The Cowrie Hole behind Newcastle Baths).
And what a work-shop. It's the sort of place that you could film a Werther's commercial out of. Lots of wood dust, tools and timber. It's heart-warming to know places like this really do exist - and in suburban Newcastle too!
Part of Mark's studio. It's tiny and yethe manages to turn out all manner of timber furniture
Condensed CV:
I started my apprenticeship as a sheetmetal worker in 1977. After one year my indentures were transferred to a refrigeration & air-conditioning apprentice. I still had a lot of sheet metal experience making all sorts of things from T-model Ford parts to putting guards on plant and machines in the BHP. I learnt two trades at the same time. I worked with copper, brass, stainless steel and with the refrigeration and air-conditioning I had a lot of electrical, plumbing, gases and chemistry experience. It gave me a great base to a wide range of knowledge and skills. Over the years in these trades I got to work in and on many different industries and machines from train loco engines, Tangara air conditioning, Tangara cabin controls, air port control towers, ship refrigeration and air-conditioning, telephone exchanges, hospital operating theatres, military equipment and on and on. After 21 plus years in that and managing a company with 30 employees, I then spent five years working with my partner Helen Stronach in her architecture practice where I learnt CAD drawing and a lot about design, colour and texture. It was then, through some of Helen’s clients wanting unusual furniture, that I headed off making furniture and art pieces and back to wood work that I had loved as a child. I had held onto the skills I had learned when I was young and from woodwork at school through my adult life with house, furniture repairs and doing up old pieces.
The impressive 'tool wall'
What has been your most memorable project?
One of my first, the kitchen bench from recycled material, including the sink which was made from an old copper jam cooker that the client found on eBay. The one I am working on at the moment is for a client in Alice Springs, it will run a close second. It's a dining room table in the shape of a 2.4m long leaf. Each segment of the leaf is from a different timber with copper veins running between. The legs are slab rosewood that have been carved to emulate a tree roots. Mostly it's whatever project you are on at the time, it's a bit like the thrill of the chase.
Mark's plan for a current project -
a dining table made from different varieties of wood
in the shape of a leaf
Nearly ready for finishing.
Putting the pieces together.
What would be your dream project?
Any projects that have enough budget so that you don't have to rush, you want to be able to enjoy the process and give each peace the time it deserves. I don't look for large grand projects especially, I am just as happy with small sweet one off jobs.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Being able to make a living from doing something you love. I wanted to keep the feeling that every day is just like doing a hobby so it does not become a pain to go to work. So far so good, generally I can't wait to get back to my current piece and I'm never watching the clock to go home. Almost all of my work is by commission so I am always making very different pieces.
What is your most treasured possession?
My most treasured possession is easy. When I was ten years old my grandfather gave me his grandfather’s tool chest, he was a cabinet maker from the Island of Jersey and had come to Australia in 1859. As a 10 year old I already had my own workshop, a tiny shed attached to the side of my fathers garage. I would spend all my pocket money on tools, nails etc. I still remember walking up to the local hardware store and checking out the throw out table for bargains and putting a handful of loose nails from a large 5-gallon drum into a brown paper bag and the store owner weighing them. My grandfather must have known I would cherish it. Its now about 170 years old, I still use many of the tools from the chest. I also still have some of the tools I bought when I ten.
Just a couple of pieces from Mark's great-grandfather's tool kit.
These tools are over 150 years old and Mark still uses them.
Mark's great-grandfather's square with initials.
It's the most certain square he's ever owned.
What does a typical day at work involve for you?
I check and water the veggie garden before I head to work, that puts you in the right frame of mind before you get there, it gives you time to slow down before you speed up. Time to contemplate how you are going to do that tricky large miter joint.
Once there, unlock and put the jug and the radio on (I couldn't work without music), one more cup of tea or coffee while you survey the job at hand settle on a course of action. I then work until interrupted or lunch, if you have to wait for pieces to be glued then that becomes maintenance time, there are always chisels or planes to sharpen.
I often have to go to my other storage shed and select more timber. Timber colour, grain orientation, length, width, is it twisted or cupped, then back into the job cutting more joints, planing or thicknessing the timber I have just bought back.
I love using hand tools they are quiet, don't make dust, so I don't have to wear dust masks or ear plugs, face shields etc, power tools just make so much noise, dust etc they're just unfriendly. At the end of a good day I clean up and mostly have a large pile of sawdust, a lot of this then comes home and into the compost heap to go into the veggie garden.
Oh, and some lunch in there somewhere too, I make a point of sitting down at lunch time, I used to wonder why my legs were tired at the end of the day and then I would realize I hadn't sat down for 9 or 10 hours.
What is your most valuable pearl of wisdom gained since starting your business?
Never compromise on quality, always make sure the customer is happy. Sometimes when you quote a job you just can't see how long things will take but you can't take short cuts or hurry, you just have to bite the bullet finish the job and keep the quality in. It will be finished when it's finished.
Where do you derive creative inspiration?
I am by nature very practical and I love the timber so it's mostly spontaneous, I have a base design that I have shown and discussed with the clients but once I start the piece that’s when the creativity really kicks in. I always tell my clients that I will discuss things with them along the way, I email or phone them during the job and say I have had an idea or what do you think about this, they love having continued input into the piece too.
Which other designers, artists or creative people are you most inspired by at the moment?
Mostly the old-school woodworkers like Alan Peters (English), Sam Maloof (US), Tage Frid (US) and James Krenov. Sadly these guys all passed away in the last year or so, all in their 80's and 90's. Allan Peters did his apprenticeship in a workshop that did not have electricity. Sam Maloof had never had any formal woodwork training his rocking chairs now sell for around $50,000.00. Tage Frid liked to sweep up at the end of the day and then go home and kiss his wife. James Krenov's book A Cabinetmakers Notebook is full of quotes that I can relate to so well.
James Krenov quote "I am not much for drawing; I can't say: "Here is a working drawing make the piece according to this" My pieces are pieced together. All the little details, the way things add up, are unpredictable - or nearly so. It is a finger-tip adventure." End quote.
Each had very different styles but all loved their woodwork.
What are some of your favourite websites or blogs?
I spend a lot of time on Woodworking Australia's woodwork forum. It's a real melting pot of ideas, tools, project designs etc. It has forums on carving, furniture making, boats, wood turning, the list goes on. You can discuss the benefits or pitfalls of timbers, glues, screws etc. It's just a great resource. And eBay.
Everything has its place.
Everything has its place.
Apart from your work, what other interests, passions, hobbies do you have?
When I'm not up to my armpits in sawdust, you could look under Swansea Bridge or in Port Stephens , I love scuba diving. No phones, no noise - just fish and bubbles. I also let the tyres down on my little Jeep and head out on Stockton Beach fishing, I don't go as often as I would like but that is something I really like doing too. I'm also trying to find time to do some ceramics with my partner Helen. We also love snow-skiing, so if the snow is good we try and get down for a few runs.
How long have you been a Novocastrian?
All my 50 years, and its unlikely to change now. We would like to move to a small property where we could have a large workshop space for both of us, as well as the veggie gardens and a small orchard but everything is so convenient here, as well as children, family and friends.
Newcastle in a word?
"Beach". Even if you don't go and look at it all that often it is always there. In 1981 I went for the usual overseas extended holiday, I spent 3 months going across Canada and didn't realise until I got to the Atlantic how much I had missed the ocean and beach. At that time I did spend more time at the beach than I do now. We have great beaches in town and in both directions up and down the coast.
A work-in-progress.
A work-in-progress.
What do you love and hate about living in Newcastle?
I love most things about Newcastle now the BHP is gone. We have great facilities and don't need to go very far afield if we don't want to.
Hate? I hate the raw deal we get from the State and Federal Governments, the fact that we have always been a safe Labour seat is our undoing. Labour knows they don't have to do much to get back in and the others don't think they have a chance so they don't send anything this way. Still in this day and age people in Newcastle are forced to wait at railway gates on four of our busiest roads and the State and or Federal Governments don't give a shit. And I hate talking politics.
How is Newcastle different to anywhere else?
It doesn't matter where you live most people think there town or home is different to other places. After traveling a fair bit on holidays and scuba diving adventures, I think that Newcastle is just a very comfortable place. I have friends who have either migrated to Australia and Newcastle or moved to Newcastle from other parts of Australia who have seen a lot of the world and have chosen Newcastle to settle in. We have a great mild climate (most of the time), we have plenty of shops and facilities, fantastic beaches, the Hunter Valley wine area, great lakes and boating areas, a couple of top ten Australian scuba sites, plenty of water (the drinking kind) etc etc etc. I know there are many other places like it but it has got a lot going for it. And lots of great crafts people, the town is full of makers, potters, print makers, artists.
Where are your favourite places in Newcastle / Hunter to:
+ eat
+ eat
Working lunches - sandwiches, cakes etc from Everly’s, opposite the International Sports Centre at Broadmeadow. Fantastic old school sandwiches and not ridiculously expensive.
Out to dinner - Paymasters (18 Bond St, Newcastle East, 02 4925 2600) or Lotus Espresso (50 Glebe Rd, The Junction, 02 4969 8133). Both have great food, good service and friendly. We are lucky, we have a huge selection of restaurants these days, Newcastle is almost overflowing with great places to eat and drink all over town and around the harbor.
+ drink
In the back yard after working in the veggie garden,
+ shop
The Centenary Centre (29 Centenary St, Newcastle, 02 4925 4547). I love all the antiques and old tools. I try and avoid the shopping centers and only go there when I really have to.
+ play
Under Swansea Bridge or on Stockton Beach.
+ relax
What's that? I am always doing something but if I do get a chance to kick back, a lazy day at home or maybe go to the movies.
What is Newcastle / Hunter’s best-kept secret?
Within 10 - 30 minutes (as long as you avoid the railway gates) of home, I can be at a scuba diving site, at Newcastle Airport, on the beach fishing, at work, at the movies, shopping, at my favorite restaurant or anywhere else in town - and that’s at peak hour. Within 60 minutes you can be at the vineyards, Port Stephens, the Central Coast or Hawks Nest. Two hours and I can be at Sydney Airport or the mid-North Coast. In Newcastle, you don't have to spend half the day in the car to get somewhere and then the other half to get home again.
Website: www.solidwoodfurniture.com.au
0 lovely comments:
Post a Comment