THE annual Fine Woodworking and Local Crafts Exhibition is being held at the Exhibition Room at the Coffs Harbour Botanic Gardens over the weekend of 2 to 4 December, from 10am until 4pm and entry is free.

President of the Mid North Coast Woodworkers, Paul Massey-Reed told News Of The Area, “The exhibition will feature works of our club members.

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“The range will include simple turned objects, resin and wood jewellery, unique boxes and furniture.

“Many of these items will be for sale.”

Three competitions are also being held, including a People’s Choice, and there’s a raffle of members’ fine woodwork pieces.

“Mid North Coast Woodworkers is a group of like-minded men and women who meet regularly to pursue their interest in making things with wood,” said Paul.

“Wood is a very tactile material and each piece is different thus leading to great design opportunities and the production of bespoke items.

“The products we make trap carbon, are made from one of the few sustainable materials, and can, with care, last many centuries.”

The members use a variety of woods, mainly native timbers, usually sourced from local suppliers such as Bunnings, Petrie’s Mitre 10, Bim Morton at Tree-O Gallery, Rosegum Timbers, Korora Specialty Timbers and Justin Rullis, along with donations and estate sales.

“Some members use recycled timbers and we salvage trees/timber from people’s properties that would have been dumped or burnt.

“I am currently making a coffee table from glass, silver ash and jarrah, an outdoor chair from recycled pallet timber, and a carved mirror from rosewood,” said Paul.

“The timbers were all locally sourced.”

The three competitions contested at the exhibition are:

Category 1 – Excellence in Woodworking for the best designed, constructed, and finished piece.

This will be judged by Bim Morton, one of the three partners at Tree-O Gallery at Raleigh who teaches wood design at TAFE.

Category 2 – Best creative piece for an interesting or technical piece.

“This award will be judged by Graham Patterson, a local bespoke maker of wooden furniture and trophies.”

Both Bim and Graham are nationally recognised as amongst Australia’s best wood workers making furniture and decorative items.

The Peoples’ Choice will be judged by the general public who will vote for their favourite piece.

Votes will be tallied and announced on Sunday afternoon.

“It is impossible to predict which item will be selected,” said member Noelene Carter when she won Grand Champion and Peoples’ Choice in last year’s Australian Scroll Saw competition.

Members will be available to chat at the exhibition.

Each member has a range of skills including turning, furniture making, toy making, box making, Intarsia, wooden jewellery making, use of resin, wood finishes, selection of timber for projects and knowledge of properties of many species of wood.

“In the last two years members of the club have won a number of competitions.”

The winning items will be on display.

Some members will be carving during the exhibition.

The Club offers a range of activities for members to foster the development of woodwork skills.

These include workshops, clinics, demonstrations and guest speakers at meetings and on specified weekends during the year.

You do not have to be an expert woodworker to be a member of the club and the club is open to all members of the community with an interest in woodwork.

By Andrea FERRARI