New craft-based industry for the Waimarino?

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 1, Issue 19, 11 October 1983, Page 3

New craft-based industry for the Waimarino?

Faul Beckett and Steve Denford (pictured in their Rangataua wood-turning workshop) both came here to work and ski during the winter months but stayed on to produce exquisite works of art from local native timbers. Both had visited the Waimarino before but until Faul and Steve arrived to stay and help Mike and Bonnie Bramley restore the burnt-out Sunbeam Lodge in Ohakune, their visits had been confined to weekend ski trips. That was three years ago and when Faul had completed his contract on the Sunbeam Lodge he bought' a railways house in Ohakune and moved it to Rangataua. Faul had seen an opportunity to combine his interest in woodturning with ^^estyle he preferred and a ^^■tiful source of raw material. Faul. 34. had spent some time travelling through •F.ngland and lndia "on a sort of personal search" before returning to New Zealand to "adopt a simple. lifc style that would allow him to concentrate on his wood-turning. Steve. in his early 2()'s. first came to the Waimarino to ski while he was still at school. After a brief spell at Auckland Iniversity he returned to live. work and ski here. Steve first learned to use a lathe w hile still at school and has now been working with for three years. J^Faui and Steve 's works of art large wooden urns and bowls are probably better known. outside the

Waimarino than within, in response to orders from overseas and other parts of New Zealand" said Faul. Examples of their work have been selected by the Minister of Foreign Affairs for d'isplav in their embassies overseas including New York. Teheran and Svdnev together with private saies to the TJK. Noumea and the l 'nited States. Faul. who is largely self taught through application and observation of other skilled wood-lathe operators, specialises in making large. thin shelled and finely finishcd wooden urns out of native timbers beech. rimu, matai, kauri, rata, totara, m a i r e and macrocarpa. Steve uses the same timbers but specialises in wooden bowls which have a distinctiv e style of their own combining rough bark with inlays of metal. bone and coral. Steve recently held his first one-man exhibition at the Dowse Gallery in Lower Hutt and exhibited twenty

two pieces. Faul, who has wanted to establish a bigger workshop — they currently work in a derelict house — and design a heavy-duty lathe that vvill take over some of the heavy manual work, recently purchased a 2-acre block of land in Rangataua. He also bought the -old railway shed in Karioi, dismantled it and shifted it to Rangataua where he will re-erect it as a workshop part of which will be equipped to produce handcrafted items of furniture. When he has installed the proper machinery he hopes to employ 4-5 local people. This will not only enable him to catch up with the backlog of orders but it will also be giving local people a chance to learn a trade so that they can earn their own living. In this way Faul feels that he is putting something back into the community from which he i.s deriving his raw" materials. The impact of having half a dozen wood-workers and cabinet makers producing works of art and handcrafted items of furniture from local native timbers could be significant for the Waimarino. Faul has a plea to make to all farmers and other property owners who might be contemplating clearing bush, and choppingdown or burning off wind-blown native trees. It's such a waste to burn them or let them rot on the ground when they could be transformed into beautiful or useful pieces of craft work", he said. Flease let him know of any native trees that are already down or about to be felled — the parts unsuitable . for milling often contain the most interesting grains.