Portrait of a Craftsman. Noai Yoshinabu.
Welcome to the first in a series of ‘Portrait of a Craftsman’. It is my aim to feature many craftspeople specialising in a wide range of crafts. Many of the crafts I focus on will be those that have existed for hundreds of years, but now, with the mass-produced requirements of a disposable society, are slowly disappearing.
Meet Yoshi, an incredibly talented master of fine Japanese joinery and sculpture. I was first introduced to Yoshi in the mid-eighties by my High School woodwork teacher Leigh Kelly. At the time I was involved in the Northern Rivers woodcraft group and we would occasionally take day-trips out to Yoshi’s to witness him in action. I still have vivid memories of these days and so it seemed fitting that Yoshi be the first in this series. It is almost 30 years since I last saw Yoshi, but very little seems to have changed over that time. He is still crafting beautiful furniture and art pieces using age-old traditional techniques and a wide collection of hand-tools. He still works from the same workshop on his beautiful Burringbar property and he is still mesmerising to watch.
Below is a small collection of images from my afternoon with Yoshi. Keep an eye on the blog for the next in this series.