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Woodworkers craft a show for Cedar Hill

Vancouver Island Woodworkers Guild present Visions in Wood in the Arts Centre at Cedar Hill from April 4 to 29
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Phil Makin checks out the chair he plans to display at the Visions in Wood 2018 exhibit at the Arts Centre at Cedar Hill. (Photo submitted)

A group of Island woodworkers has carved out a space in Cedar Hill to display their latest creations.

The Vancouver Island Woodworkers Guild are presenting Visions in Wood 2018 in the Arts Centre at Cedar Hill from April 4 through 29.

“You’re going to see work from people who make their living doing furniture and woodworking, to people who are keen amateurs like I am,” said Oak Bay’s Phil Makin, the co-chair of this year’s show.

He estimates there will be more than 50 works on display at the centre, with about 18 smaller objects located in the display case.

“Things like tools, jewelry boxes, small lighting items, turned objects, that kind of thing. In the main gallery, we’ll have probably around 20 pieces of furniture,” said Makin, adding there will also be a number of paintings from the Plein Air group the Al Frescoes.

The free show will be at the arts centre, located at 3220 Cedar Hill Rd., everyday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with a show ambassador on hand from about 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The exhibits are the work of members of the Vancouver Island Woodworkers Guild, which boasts about 150 members stretching from Victoria to Ladysmith, with much of the wood used also locally sourced.

“We work with the arbourists in the core municipalities to get some of those trees [that are being cut down],” Makin says of the guild’s wood recovery program. “Instead of them going to the firebox, we mill them in a way that’s useful for furniture. We try and work with wood that is from within 100 miles from where they live, it’s a little like the 100 Mile Diet.”

Part of the wood obtained through the wood recovery program goes to local schools where it is used by students in shop classes.

For his part, Makin has been seriously involved with woodworking for the past 20 years or so.

“I did some very rudimentary woodworking but got away from it for many years. Now I’m retired and I’ve got a little bit more time to do this sort of thing.”

He estimates he will put about 100 hours of labour into his current project.

“I’m working on a chair that is a real challenging beast,” said Makin, who laughs when asked if the project will be part of the Visions in Wood exhibit. “If all goes well.”

For more information on the guild or the wood recovery program, visit www.viwg.com.

editor@saanichnews.com

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The Vancouver Island Woodworkers Guild will have a number of exhibits on display in the Arts Centre at Cedar Hill from April 4 to 29. (Photo submitted)


Dan Ebenal

About the Author: Dan Ebenal

Throughout my career, I've taken on roles as a reporter and editor in more than a dozen newsrooms across the province.
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