Ned uses his knowledge of timber and experience as a boat builder and the by-products of the process to create one-off pieces of furniture.
Individual pieces of furniture are also made on commission.
Ned’s work can be viewed in our Gallery at 51 Woodbridge Hill Road, Woodbridge, Tasmania.
Folding Tables
‘foltables’ for boat, house or garden
$350 plus postage
‘spider’ Hall Table
‘shelter’ cupboards
The story behind ‘shelter’ – made from recycled timber
NZ Kauri Pine, King Billy Pine, Tas. Oak, Huon pine, copper.
All materials used in the construction of Shelter are recycled from different places.
The NZ Kauri comes from the demolition of shelving units out of the Royal Hobart Hospital.
Hard to know how old the timber is, but it would probably have been installed prior to the 1940’s, as they stopped exporting Kauri from NZ around that time.
The roof and door panels are King Billy Pine from Rosebery, West Coast Tasmania.
In another life they were core sample trays from the mines. Some of them had pieces of rock embedded in the timber and looked in pretty bad shape, but with some careful work they live again, with a beautiful patina of age and history.
I have built a number of pieces of furniture using these two timbers, and I love the aesthetic the combination creates.
Artist concept
I had the idea of building a ‘book matched’ set of cupboards, that when together would become one.
The idea developed and the six pieces were created.
They work as individual cupboards with internal shelving, but I think they work better when the six become one.
Being individual, the one piece concept is modular and a number of different roof lines can be created.
To me they are evocative of Australian out buildings, this is what I was trying to create, and hence the name Shelter.
The wrens just happened to be passing, and they also took shelter.
Ned Trewartha
2013
‘shipwrecked’ – custom made cupboards from recycled boats
‘Shipwrecked‘ is a piece made by Ned using re used timbers all of some age and history.
It is a large cupboard with three internal shelves. 1450h x 1000w x 700d
The inserts in the doors are made from 70 to 80 year old King Billy core sample trays from the Rosebery mines on the West Coast of Tasmania.
The cupboard is made from New Zealand Kauri which we have had for 18 years, and was recycled from the Royal Hobart Hospital..
The top is from the well of “Henry 11” an old cray dinghy Ned restored some years ago.
“Ebu” the bird is carved from King Billy Pine
The fittings are recycled brass and bronze.
This is a unique piece of furniture made from Tasmanian history.
‘salvaged’ – recycled timber bench
This piece ‘salvaged’ was built for the annual ‘Art Farm Birches Bay’ exhibition.
The artist statement was as follows:
The timbers used in creating this bench, were once part of a strong,
proud hull of a 40 odd foot motor cruiser.
After long years of service, she was destined for restoration/rebuild.
She sat for years, awaiting her reward for work well done. Until one afternoon, one person
decided she was in the way, and took to her with a chainsaw and a match.
I managed to salvage a few hull sections before they reached the fire.
In this wasteful society, some think that once something reaches the end of its working life,
the only place to go is landfill, or fuel for the fire. I disagree – life goes on.
‘cocktails’ – lounge made from recycled boat
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