2019 Workshops are now available for booking!
Whether you're a hobbyist or you've had a passion for woodwork your entire life, our workshop facilitators are ready and more than willing to share their passion, skills and knowledge with you. So, scroll through the list below and don't forget to book early as spots are limited!
Milking stools
with the Illawarra woodwork school
Make a greenwood milking stool with an irregular shaped top.
3 hours / $120 pp
Workshop attendees need to be over 16
Wear enclosed shoes
Sat 12th Oct 19, 10:00am - 1:00 pm
Sun 13th Oct 19, 10:00am - 1:00 pm
PLANE AND CHISEL SHARPENING
with Jim Davey
This workshop is all about Sharp Chisels , Sharp Planes and Sharpening. Experience the joy of quality tools for sharpening and the results produced.
2 hours /$45.00pp / Includes Festival day ticket
Enclosed leather footwear must be worn.
Plane & Chisel sharpening
Sat 12th Oct 19, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Spoon Carving
with Carol Russell
Spoon Carving with Carol Russell is a comprehensive introduction to carving using tools such as hook knives, chisels, spokeshaves and whittling knives. You will be working with seasoned, salvaged timber and will explore basic carving techniques as well as design, timber characteristics, tool sharpening and wood finishing. The emphasis will be on creating interesting detail and exploring a range of finishes such as milk paint, charring and texturing.
6 hours / $200 includes festival day ticket
All tools and materials are supplied.
Suitable for both experienced and beginner carvers.
Participants must be over 16 years
Wear comfortable clothing & enclosed shoes
Saturday 12th Oct 19, 10:30am - 4:30 pm
CREATE A SHAKER BOX
with Stuart Montague from the Illawarra woodwork school
The Shaker-style pantry box is a round bentwood box made by hand. Such boxes are "associated with Shaker folklife because they express the utility and uniformity valued in Shaker culture.
3 hours / $120 pp
Workshop attendees need to be over 16
Wear enclosed shoes
Sat 12th Oct 19, 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Sun 13th Oct 19, 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Introduction to Kumiko
with the Illawarra woodwork school
Kumiko is a delicate Japanese technique of assembling wooden pieces without the use of nails. Thinly slit wooden pieces are grooved, punched and mortised, and then fitted individually using a plane, saw, chisel and other tools to make fine adjustments.
Learn this traditional Japanese technique with the Illawarra Woodwork School,
3 hours / $120 pp
Workshop attendees need to be over 16
Wear enclosed shoes
Materials supplied.
Sat 12th Oct 19, 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Sun 13th Oct 19, 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Children's Woodworking workshops
with Greg Miller from 'The Joy of Wood"
Greg Miller from The Joy of Wood which is situated at the Heritage Woodcraft Centre in Perth is dedicated to teaching traditional woodworking hand skills and techniques especially to children.
Children 12 & under are free entry to the festival.
Age 13 & over will need to purchase an earlybird ticket for $10
Sat 12th Oct
Make a kitchen spatula / 1.5 hours / Must be over 6 years - $65pp
Make a Sword & Shield / 3 hours / Must be over 8 years - $80pp
Make a small garden windmill / 1.5 hours / Must be over 6 years / $65pp
Sun 13th Oct
Introduction to Whittling Knife skills / 1.5 hours / Must be over 8 / $65pp
Make a Sword & Shield / 3 hours / Must be over 6 / $80pp
Make a Cheeseboard / 2 hours / Must be over 8 / $75 pp
Green Woodwork
with Eli Beke from Edge & Wedge Woodcraft
Come learn the art of Spoon Carving in the Swedish green woodcraft tradition.
Spatula Carving x 2 hours / $90pp includes festival day ticket - Learn to carve a straight spatula in the Swedish greenwood tradition using wedges to split timber.
Chip Carving x 1.5 hours / $70pp includes festival day ticket - Learn to use a small chip carving knife to incise decorative patterns, and to draw tableaus in to wood and how that can be applied to further decorate a piece.
Gypsy Flower x 1.5 hours / $70 includes festival day ticket - Learn how to carve a gypsy flower from a wild sourced stick, made by travelling people as they would arrive in a village and then sold as a household decoration.
Participants must be over 16 and wear enclosed shoes.
There are 6 sessions available for this workshopSat 12th Oct 10:00am-12:00pm
Sat 12th Oct 1;00pm-2:30pm
Sat 12th Oct 3;00pm-4:30pm
Sun 12th Oct 10:00am-12:00pm
Sun 12th Oct 1;00pm-2:30pm
Sun 12th Oct 3;00pm-4:30pm
Adult & Children's Workshop / Boomerang making & Traditional Spear making
with NURA GUNYU
Make your own Boomerang & Traditional Spear with Uncle Noel Butler from NURA GUNYU.
Boomerang making / 3 hours / Under 10 with an adult & over 12 / $80 pp
Traditional Spear making / 3 hours / Under 10 with an adult or over 12 / $100 pp
There are 4 sessions available for this workshop
Sat 12th Oct 10:00am-1:00pm
Sat 12th Oct 1;30pm-4:30pm
Sun 13th Oct 10:00am-1:00pm
Sun 13th Oct 1;30pm-4:30pm
Children 10 & over can attend the workshop but must be accompanied by a parent.
All materials provided.
12 & Under are FREE entry to Festival.
PYROGRAPHY (WOODBURNING WORKSHOP)
FROM STYRO PYROGRAPHY
Pyrography - "writing with fire", is the art of decorating wood with burn marks resulting from the controlled application of a heated object. Drawing was the first method that man used to tell stories and communicate and after the important discovery of fire, the early form of “wood burning” was invented.
2 x hours / $65 with festival day ticket.
Sat 12th Oct 11:00am-1:00pm
Sun 13th Oct 11:00am-1:00pm
Minimum age 12 years
All materials and tools supplied
No experience necessary
Wear comfortable work clothes and enclosed footwear.
Bird Whittling
with Carol Russell
Create… Learn….. Experience…..
The free form art of whittling and going where the wood takes you is relaxing as well as being a wonderful form of creative expression.
Explore the art of whittling by learning to carve a small bird from a block of wood. The emphasis of this class is creating a small sculpture using only a knife. In the class these skills will be covered design, timber selection, knife sharpening and finishing using Milk paint, oils and charring.
ABOUT CAROL: Carol Russell has been working with timber for most of her adult life. Beginning in 1987 with small furniture projects and antique restoration Carol spent time learning from craftsmen who were prepared to share their knowledge. She worked as a furniture maker, focusing on small commission projects and exhibiting her work in galleries in Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney. Carol also loves to teach woodwork to children and adults, encouraging them to experience the pleasure of creating something with their own hands from some of our beautiful Australian timbers
3 x hours / $100 with festival day ticket
Sun 13th Oct, 10:30 am - 1:30 pm
Minimum age 16 years
Maximum number of participants 8 per workshop
All materials and tools supplied
No woodworking experience necessary
Wear comfortable work clothes and enclosed footwear.
LEARN the Art of POLE LATHE TURNING
with the Leura Bodger
Pole lathe greenwood turning is my passion. My enthusiasm for this ancient craft began many years ago when I first came across ‘bodging’ – the traditional craft of greenwood turning. Bodging was developed in medieval times and later used for creating fine furniture including the classic Windsor chair. More recently I have broadened my interests and now create my own style of greenwood furniture as well as traditionally crafted wooden household utensils.
Participants will learn the basics of pole-lathe turning.
They can make a simple mallet handle, spurtle or a set of stools.
4 x hours / $150 includes festival day ticket.
Sat 12th Oct 11:00am-3:00pm
Sun 13th Oct 11:00am-3:00pm
Wear comfortable clothes & enclosed shoes.
Participants must be over 16 years.
TONGUE DRUM WORKSHOP
with Robert Towler
Learn how to make a Tongue Drum with Robert Towler. Timber Tongue Drums are small wooden boxes with tone wood tops like African Paduak and Southern American Purpleheart cut into slender tongues that produce a gentle musical sound when played with soft wooden beaters.
Learn how to prepare the drum making timber, assemble, tune and make the beaters. Participants just need to drop past and speak to Robert about a time that suits during the day.
Maximum of 10 participants
Cost $135 Includes Festival day ticket
Sat 12th Oct 10:00am-5:00pm
Sun 13th Oct 10:00am-5:00pm
Learn the Art of Coopering
(Wooden Bucket-making)
Coopering is the traditional craft of making buckets, wine barrels, baths and all forms of storage containers. Learn the basic techniques of coopering and create a unique wooden bucket with a rope handle.
2 x hours / $90 includes festival day ticket
Sat 12th Oct 10:30am-12:30pm
Sat 12th Oct 2:00-4:00pm
Sun 13th Oct 10:30am-12:30pm
Sun 13th Oct 2:00-4:00pm
All materials and tools supplied
No woodworking experience necessary
Wear comfortable work clothes and enclosed footwear.
Tiny Sculpture workshop
with Samantha Arnull from Her Curious Studio
Samantha Arnull is a collector of objects, as an Artist she looks to preserve, protect and celebrate the purpose and memories of the objects she collects. Her tiny sculptural works are bespoke theatrical pieces that recreate contraptions of times past. Samantha went to Art School at the University of Newcastle, obtaining her Master of Fine Art Art via an exchange program at the Bauhaus University in Germany. Always traveling and collecting she is now living in Thirroul and making work at the Timbermill Studios, Bulli.
1.5 x hours / $120 includes festival day ticket
Sat 12th Oct 2:00pm-3:30pm
Sun 13th Oct 2:00pm-3:30pm
All materials will be provided.
Assemblage Sculpture Workshop
with international artist Tanya Stubbles
Assemblage is a form of sculpture comprised of "found" objects arranged in such a way that they create an artwork.
Learn to create an assemblage artwork,
3 x hours / $175 includes festival day ticket
Sat 12th Oct 10:30am-1:30pm
Sun 13th Oct 10:30am-1:30pm
All materials will be provided.
Woodturning with Woodstories
with Brett Davis
Nothing quite showcases a piece of timber like a hand turned timber bowl!
In 90 minutes you will complete a finished bowl under instruction from ‘Woodstories’ Brett Davis.
Come on your own, or as a couple or parent child combo to work on bowl together.
Reviving the lost art of hand turned bowls, Brett from Woodstories hand turns Australian native timbers into bowls of all sizes.
Pull up a pew as Brett walks you through the steps to transforming native wood from species such as Australian Red Cedar, Coastal Banksia, Camphor Laurel, Eucalyptus, Tasmanian Myrtle, Blackwood and Sassafras into beautiful and functional household objects.
1.5 x hours / $120 includes festival day ticket
Sat 12th Oct 10:30am-12:00pm
Sat 12th Oct 12:30-2:00pm
Sat 12th Oct 2:30-3:30pm
Sun 13th Oct 10:30am-12:00pm
Sun 13th Oct 12:30-2:00pm
Sun 13th Oct 2:30-3:30pm
Includes personal tuition, timber, materials.
Must wear enclosed shoes & no loose clothing.
Couples / parent & child welcome.
A TASTE OF SPOON CARVING
with Brad Van Luyt
A taste of spoon carving - carve a spoon from green wood with hand tools. Working with a woody weed taken from a local bush regeneration project, you will leave with a new spoon, new axe and knife skills and, hopefully, no band-aids! See what you can do with just three tools and a lump off wood. C’mon, Chop! Chop!
Workshops
Taste of Spoon carving - 2hrs / $110 with festival day ticket
Butter knife carving - 2hrs / $110 with festival day ticket
Carve a teaspoon or two - 2hrs / $110 with festival day ticket
Sat 12th Oct 10:30-12:30pm
Sat 12th Oct 2:00-4:00pm
Sun 13th Oct 10:30-12:30pm
Sun 13th Oct 2:00-4:00pm
Minimum age 14 years
Maximum number of participants 10 per workshop
All materials and tools supplied
No woodworking experience necessary
Wear comfortable work clothes and enclosed footwear.