May 18, 2014
Twice a week a group gathers at the back of the Visitor Information Centre complex in Kingaroy to work with wood.
Under the watchful eyes of instructor Brian Smith they are currently carving rococo and baroque designs from exotic timbers such as Brazilian mahogany, white beech or camphor laurel.
Each piece they are working on will take hours of hand carving and polishing.
Mirrors and picture frames are slowly taking shape on the benches.
Brian, who has a large barometer / thermometer mount which he estimates has taken upwards of 100 hours to create so far, is passing on skills that he has learned over a lifetime.
“I have had an interest right from when I was very young,” he said.
“I started to teach myself and then learned from (well-known woodcarvers) Warren Hielscher in Maryborough and Laurence Otto.
“Laurence carved the patterns for the Queen’s Bicentennial Coach.”
The South Burnett Woodcrafters currently meet on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 8:00am to noon, although Brian said he was thinking of starting up a Thursday group as well to cope with the number of students he’s getting.
For more information, contact president Dean on (07) 4162-2547, Doug (07) 4162-5878 or Allan (07) 4162-7705.
