" Gary Bennett "
Studio Address
63 Point Marmaduke Drive
Margaret River
Ph: 08 97571016
Fax: 08 97571019
Email: gary@jahroc.com.auDesigner/Maker
I am a carpenter by trade who has spent his life observing the balance and form of structures, both manmade and natural. For as long as I can remember I have been designing and making objects with the intent of creating them to be both practical and aesthetically pleasing. From an early child hood spent in rural W.A. spending time with uncles and grandfathers on farms, where in many cases items such as fences, buildings and equipment had to be created with very limited resources. Disused machinery and materials were always kept in a grave yard that was picked over again and again to serve as hardware store for projects around the farm. Dead tree butts were hand ripped to create a simple yet attractive bench seat. Gates were made from Jam tree branches and twitched with wire to create yet another well balanced utilitarian object. They were twitched with wire yet still constructed using good joinery so they wouldn't have to repeat the labour a few years later. Many of these examples of our early settlers ingenuity are still doing their job 60years later. I consider myself very lucky to have begun my apprenticeship in life surrounded by the great people in my immediate and extended family.
For the past 17 years I have been focussing on the creation of furniture with my long standing business partner and good friend David Paris. My journey of furniture making is heavily salted with the skills and habits I picked up hanging around on farms. The materials used are often (and in the beginning through necessity due to lack of funds) found or recovered from something disused. The early pieces (my rustic work) I made were firmly connected to my time as a carpenter. Old building beams recovered from demolition sites were only lightly rubbed and shaped so as to preserve as much of their past life as possible. These pieces were made to capture the essence of our past and by using somewhat oversized sections of timber, I could create a feeling of strength and longevity. I sometimes combined slabs of Toodyay Stone in this work (the rock in Jahroc) which to me, at the time, seemed to be the ultimate in resilience seeing the stone had been around for 100's of millions of years. I even borrowed an oxy torch so I could make my own forged iron fittings using old bolts.
I found finer stone in the off cut piles in monumental yards and this started me exploring finer more polished designs which found their way into some our states finest regional Galleries such as Gunyulgup Gallery in Yallingup. We were also invited to exhibit some this work in Los Angeles , Japan and Italy .
Exhibitions
1988 York Art awards York
1990 York Art awards York
1991 Milan Furniture Fair (By invitation W.A. Government) Italy
1992 Pacific Design Centre Los Angeles
1992 Gunyulgup Gallery Yallingup
1993 FIAA Furniture Exhibition Claremont
1994 “Out of the Woods” R&I Tower Perth
1995 “Out of the Woods” R&I Tower Perth
1995 York Art awards York
1996 Furnitex Melbourne
1997 FIAA Furniture Exhibition Perth
1998 Cabernet Chairs Perth (WA Art Gallery )
1999 “Out of the Woods” Perth (BankWest)
2000 New Work (solo) Holmes`aCourt
Gallery East Perth
Awards
1988 York Art Awards “Best Contemporary Entry”
1990 York Art Awards “ Award for Excellence”
1991 Furniture Industry Association “Best New Design” Award
1991 West Australian Stand Milan Fair Italy “Best Design”
1992 Furniture Industry Association “Excellence in Design & Manufacture of a new product ‘Occasional Furniture'
1993 FIAA Furniture Fair “Excellence in the use of Jarrah”
1993 FIAA Furniture Fair “Excellence in Occasional Furniture”
1993 FIAA Furniture Fair “Excellence in Western Australian Manufactured Furniture”
1994 FIAA Furniture Fair “Most Innovative Product using Western Australian Timber”
1994 Out of the Woods Exhibition “Overall Award for Excellence”
1995 Wesfi “Noel Hearn Fellowship Award” “Outstanding Contribution to the Development of an Export Market for Western Australian Furniture”
1995 Fine Woodwork Association “Award of Excellence”
1995 Fine Woodwork Association “Best in Show”
1995 York Art Awards “Award for Excellence in Craft”
1995 York Art Awards “ Best Avon Valley Entry in Craft”
1995 Heritage Council “Award for work undertaken to conserve The Old York Flour Mill”
1997 York Tourism Awards “Marketing – for Outstanding Achievement in Promoting York ”
1997 York Tourism Awards “Preservation of Heritage – for work undertaken to conserve The Old York Flour Mill”
1997 FIAA Furniture of the Year Awards “Excellence in Dining over $3000”
1998 Cabernet Chairs Exhibition “Public Choice Award”
1999 Out of the Woods Exhibition “Best Commercial Furniture”
1999 York Tourism Award “Best York Business”
1999 FIAA WA “Dining Furniture – Highly Recommended”
2000 West Australian Tourism Awards “Award of Merit – Significant Regional Attractions”
2000 West Australian Tourism Awards “Finalist in Tourism Retailing”
2001 FIAA Sydney International Furniture Show “Best New Design using Australian Hardwood”
2001 Regional Tourism Awards “Best Tourist Attraction”
2001 West Australian Tourism Awards “Finalist – Significant Regional Attractions”
2002 FIAA Western Australia Category Award for “Excellence in Lounge Furniture”
2002 FIAA National Award for “Excellence in Lounge Furniture”
2002 FIAA National Award The Best of the Best National Award for “Overall Categories”
2003 Family Business Association “Best First Generation Family Business 2003”