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From “a bit of flair” to master craftsman
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AYLESFORD’S Kristian King showed “a bit of flair” in the school woodwork class so he took a week’s work experience in a fine furniture workshop. That Saturday he started as an apprentice cabinet maker and never looked back. He chatted with Donna Kelly. Donna: When did you find yourself involved in furniture/art? Kristian: It became clear as a teenager fairly quickly that I was drawn to art, graphic design and woodwork. I was always making something in the shed and interested in how things are made and how they work. Furniture design and making is a perfect fit for me – it combines everything that I love about design and art and I savour the making process. Donna: Did you study formally? Kristian: Sure did! I did a cabinet making fouryear apprenticeship in Melbourne with Ramons Fine Furniture and then did a stint in London working for Guy Mallinson, a bespoke furniture maker who Donna: What do you hope your customers gain? trained with John Makepeace, one of the UK’s most Kristian: As a maker I hope that my work plays a renowned fine furniture makers. significant part in the lives of others. From the major ceremonial work that I have made for universities Donna: What sets your work apart from others? that is there to celebrate graduations and formal Kristian: I am a furniture designer and academic occasions, the chapel furniture where maker – this combination gives me a particular people may enjoy quiet reflection, to the tables and understanding of design, material and technique chairs that fill the homes of many families and are a enabling me to make contemporary pieces of ‘backdrop’ to their lives – I hope that my work is a furniture that draw from the past and are firmly major part of the lives of the people who use it and placed in the present. I have a great affinity with that they love it. Australian timber and hold it in high regard – enjoying bringing out its unique qualities in the Donna: What is your favourite piece and why? furniture I make. My ability and experience as Kristian: Recently I made a very special desk a furniture maker allows me to select and piece using Quilted Birds Eye huon pine and locally together beautiful wood to create unique pieces of sourced blackwood. This piece had the best of furniture that are made using traditional techniques traditional furniture making techniques including alongside the best of contemporary wood working hand dove-tail drawers, mortise and tenon joinery, practices. With 25 years’ experience I am a master inlay work and brass locks and also utilised the craftsman – making is integral to my life. best of contemporary hardware including soft-close Donna: What do you gain from your work? Kristian: I love working with people to design and make for them the perfect piece of furniture. I love honing my skills, showcasing the best of Australian timbers and making the heirlooms of tomorrow.
drawer mechanisms which were seamlessly grafted into hand dove-tailed drawers. This piece embodies a real sense of Australia in the wood that I used and in the sense of the contemporary and the traditional seamlessly fused.
Donna: What are you working on now? Kristian: I am working on a small, ornate cabinet that duplicates one that was made by Gerard Bugden, now retired from making furniture, of Wood Shed Gallery in Daylesford. I’m now taking on Gerard’s clients. The client that he made the original cabinet for loved it so much that she wanted another. It’s a beautiful cabinet made from figured Australia myrtle with hand carved rosettes on the doors – a pleasure to make. Donna: Finally, where can people view your work? Kristian: My website – www.kristianking.com and, by appointment, in the workshop. The best place to view my work is in your own home.
Image: Tim Burder