Colour, Creativity and Whimsey

Guest editor Andy Coates interviews artistic woodturner Tic Challis

Tic Challis is an artist and woodturner living and working in Suffolk, UK. I first came across Tic many years ago while demonstrating at the club of which she was (and still is) a member. Tic had an example of her incredibly intricate and detailed pyrography on display, a platter if my memory serves, and it was breathtaking. As a long-time fan of pyrography, it was wonderful to see. Over the years Tic has developed her woodturning skills, now demonstrates at clubs around the country, and often attends events and trade shows with Woodart Supplies owner John Woods.

Tic’s work is impossible to ignore; it is creative, colourful, whimsical, and often wild, and for me at least, never fails to bring a smile. Woodturning does not always play a part in Tic’s work but seems to have become the canvas she prefers to work on, and the results are wonderful. Woodturning is many things to many people, and purists will always rail against decorated work – that is fine, but Tic’s works shows that there is a place for highly decorated work, and it can stand along with more traditional turned objects quite happily. Creativity should not be constrained by accepted practice – it should be welcomed and appreciated on its own merits, and Tic’s work has everything going for it. On that note, I am pleased to introduce Tic Challis to you, and hope you enjoy this brief introduction to her world.

When did you first take up woodturning, and what was it that introduced you to the craft?

My granddad took up woodturning as a hobby when he retired, and we would go round to have a turning day with him, mostly turning mushrooms etc. Later, we had a lathe at home that I was allowed to use now and then, so turning and woodwork have really kind of always been in my life, but it wasn’t really until after art university that I really started to get to grips with woodturning on my own terms.

Who were your early influences?

Woodturners? It would be my grandfather – we did lots of projects together and I would steal his copy of Woodturning magazine and look for projects I wanted to try out. I’ve always been attracted to decorated, coloured, and modified work.

You are a member of a very active and supportive woodturning club, West Suffolk. How helpful has being a club member been in your development?

I feel joining my club was a really good choice. I have seen so many brilliant demonstrators and met many great club members who have helped me with everything from advice to lessons equipment and feedback. It was at West Suffolk that I met John Woods from Woodart Products, and I now use his pyrography machines and help out on his stand at shows. He’s been particularly instrumental in my development as a woodturner and in opportunities that I’ve had. Being able to talk to others in a friendly way about your work and have such a wealth of experience and ideas to be able to tap into is invaluable. I would encourage anyone to join a club if they can.

You now demonstrate at other clubs. When did you start demonstrating, and what was the driver for beginning to demonstrate?

My first demo was about four years ago when John Woods asked me to do a demo with him at Diss Woodturning Club, showing his pyrography machines. It kind of took off from there. I’d not really been thinking about demonstrating and was pretty scared of talking to a room full of folks about of all things decorating wood, but I discovered that I really enjoyed it. And more to the point, people seemed to enjoy it too. I enjoy encouraging people to try out this aspect of woodturning. I now also demonstrate airbrushing and making my mixed media animals. You’ll also find me on the Woodart Products stall at many of the woodturning shows around the UK, talking about and showing the pyrography and the airbrush machines and techniques.

Your work is highly decorated, and not perhaps the norm on the club circuit. How is it generally received when you take work along to demonstrations?

I get a mixed reaction, often surprise, it’s not everybody’s cup of tea and I get that. I’m not trying to force anything on anyone. I like to bring a range of my work to a demonstration, just to challenge people’s perception of what can be done. It’s great to see people look at it at the start of a demo and they often go ‘I can’t do that’, but by the end they are willing to give it a try (hopefully) and go ‘Huh, that’s an idea and I could do that’. It’s about lighting the fire of creativity (excuse the pun). I have come across a few purists who accuse me of defacing the beauty of the wood. My reply is to accuse them of defacing the beauty of a tree. We normally find a middle ground.

You have a Fine Art degree, to what extent do you feel this influences your current practice?

I have a BA Hons in Fine Art, and while the techniques and media that I use today I’ve mostly learned outside of my degree, my experience there really shaped me as both a person and creative. The way I find that it mostly influences my work today is in my approach to ideas – it’s been described as coming at them from a side angle. It also instilled in me my practice of using a sketchbook for working out ideas, recording processes, and progress; it’s an invaluable practice in my opinion.

All woodturners are interested in the workshops of other woodturners, so let’s find out a little about that. Where do you work, and what lathe and equipment do you have?

I have two work spaces, my workshop is a 6ft x 10ft section of the motorbike shed in the garden. My lathe is an Axminster 950. I have standing room between my workbench where my sharpening rig is (a recent upgrade), the lathe and my bandsaw. It’s big enough to work in but I do struggle with larger-sized turnings. However, this is mostly my fault as you can never have too many tools or wood. I also have a few odd things in there to keep me company, such as carved masks, my gazebo and a collection of old but beautiful tools.

Like most of us, I have a permanent war with dust. In some respects, it’s worse as I do a lot of sanding of planks of wood for other work. My other workspace is on an old schoolteacher’s desk – here is where I do all my decorative/off-the-lathe work. It is set up either for pyrography, the airbrush, or my mixed media works. I like to work in a busy creative space and have collections off odd things including puppets, microscopes, found bones, books, figures, odd tins to keep things in and most days my cats watch me. I find it all helps with inspiration and gets me into the zone, if you know what I mean.

I also have more useful equipment, and as much paint as I can get my hands on.

Aside from the lathe, obviously, what are the most important pieces of equipment to you and why?

My pyrography machines, they are what I spend most time using. Pyrography is a very slow process, you need patience with it above all. But it’s how I get most of my decorative aspects on to the wood and while drawing is a separate craft, pyrography is part of the woodworking world and has been for centuries. My airbrushes are also things I wouldn’t do without; they add a whole new dimension to my work and I’ve been playing with them since I was 16. The last bit of equipment I use nearly every day is a Singer sewing machine from 1918. I use it for my leather and fabric elements in my mixed media creations. That said, I don’t think I ever go anywhere without a pencil and a sketchbook – you never know when inspiration will hit.

Is there a piece of equipment, or tool(s), that you don’t have, but feel you would benefit by owning?

Yes. The vast majority of my turning tools are the older-fashion steel and styles, so will be slowly upgrading them and also looking at upgrading my lathe soon as I’d like better speed control (I use a crab weight to hold my variable speed in place), but that’s a natural part of any craft. You buy what you can to get started and then as you find your groove you upgrade and modify your tools to match. I view myself as a mixed media sort of creator. This means I’m always trying to find new things to see if they will fit into my work. This year my try-it list involves looking at carving, marbling, and experimenting more with resin and foils. It’s a never-ending game of exploration and experimentation. I strongly feel that we all benefit by trying out new things, even if it turns out that you don’t like it.

On other matters

Is woodturning your full-time occupation, and if not, do you see it ever being your primary employment?

I have a part-time job for three days a week, but I’m working toward woodwork becoming my primary employment. To this end I sell work at a few galleries, demonstrate, do one-on-one tuition, and do as many craft shows as I can. It would be a dream come true for this to be what I get to do all the time.

How do you manage you time between work and woodturning? Is it ever an issue for you?

Yes, it is a difficult thing to balance at times, there’s nothing worse than a quiet day at work when all I’d like to do is to be in the workshop. Between my job, family life, my cats and then trying to do all of my woodturning it is hard to find time to fit it all in. Pyrography is great in that I can work at it anytime, no issues with noise etc., so I regularly see past midnight when I’m involved in a project. I have alarms to remind me to go to sleep.

You are a creative person by nature, and your academic studies would seem to suggest that it has been a life-long passion. Has artistic endeavour always been important to you, and how beneficial has woodturning been as an outlet for it?

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be drawing or making something. It just feels right and it’s when I’m at my happiest. If I can’t be creative for any length of time, I get ratty and short tempered (I’m told) so I find it’s very important for my mental health too. For me, woodturning has allowed me to express myself in a way that is always new, it’s in the nature of the wood itself. In an age of mass production and repetition here’s a method and material that defies that. Each piece will always be unique. I find that both a comfort and endlessly fascinating.

Did woodturning offer you something particular that you previously had no access to, and that you felt benefitted your artistic output?

I’ve always been a Jack of all trades, so to speak, when it comes to art and crafts. In fact it was a criticism on my university course, I wouldn’t decide on a discipline. Woodturning has been my way of pulling it all together into a cohesive vision. For me, woodturning and woodwork is now the foundation of my work, my starting point, and through its myriad characteristics and different working methods has focused my processes in a way not available to me before.

There seem to be regularly occurring themes in your work, especially the nature of the decorative aspect of it – where do those themes derive from?

I’m a big reader and avid consumer of art, stories, poems, anime, theatre, comics, songs etc. I always have at least one book on the go that I’m reading. It could be any subject or genre. I’ve also been obsessed with dragons longer than I can remember, I just love them. I’ve a large collection of reference books covering a range of subjects from animals, history of hot-air ballooning, carving, gardening, folk legends, art… the list goes on. If it intrigues me I will look into it. I take all this and use it to inspire my work. For me that’s how inspiration works – you find things that interest you or that you are passionate about and then find ways to express them.

When you first began your woodturning journey, who, if anyone, were your early influences from the wider woodturning world, and why?

I remember looking online and discovering the work of Mark Doolittle and being blown away – he does a lot of off-the-lathe work. Binh Pho was another woodturner I found really inspiring, even more so when at one of the seminars I saw his work in the flesh.

I know that your grandfather was an early influence – how does he feel about the progress you have made in the craft?

I think he’s proud of the progress I’ve made. He was a joiner in his working life and he’s passed his passion for woodwork down to all his family. Sometimes I think I confuse him with the things I make, but he supports me and comes along to any shows or demonstrations he can. He’s still turning at 91, and if I come across a problem I can’t work out I still give him a call.

Is there an aspect of woodturning that you haven’t explored yet, but would like to?

I want to try it all. I’d particularly like to be able to work on larger projects but am limited by space and lathe at the moment. But it’s an evolving process. Pierced work looks interesting, and I would like to try that soon. Other aspects less so – I don’t have the patience or precision for segmented work.

You have collaborated with a number of turners, but your friendship with Mick Hanbury seems to have been a valuable and productive one; do you feel that Mick has helped your development?

Gosh yes, Mick Hanbury was really the first professional I got to know and his encouragement and advice was and still is incredible. We’ve had lots of conversations where we end up bouncing ideas and techniques about, which is really wonderful. We’ve done a few collaborations, and he always sets me a challenge to do something different. I also had a day training with him when we mostly focused on sharpening, one area I know I need to improve in. Having people push you and make you try things out of your comfort zone is scary but a great way to learn. (He also has a fab collection of T-shirts.)

Your creative output isn’t restricted to work involving woodturned components. How important is it to you to have a wider practice?

I’ve come to woodturning by a progression of my work in other mediums, and I particularly enjoy combining all these elements. Having a wider practice allows me to create things that I couldn’t with woodturning alone. It makes me happy both in the process and the results. And that’s the main thing when it comes to choosing how you work.

We can’t do this interview without asking about the birds and animals. You seem to really enjoy the whimsy of these creations, and they often involve woodturned aspects. Where do they derive from, and do you think you will develop them further?

They make me smile, and other people too. They all involve turned items even if sometimes you can’t see it. I describe them as almost animal-friendly taxidermy, they do involve leather, but it is recycled. In fact, anything that isn’t wood is a recycled or upcycled material and I’m passionate about this. I made my first wood and leather dragon when I was 10, I still have him and I’m still making dragons out of wood and leather; my methods have just changed over time. I plan to keep on developing them and I get regular request for different animals at events where I sell my work. At the moment I’m working on Guinea pigs, sloths, and dinosaurs.

What are your hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the future? And does development of your woodturning skills factor in, in any way?

I hope to keep on learning and exploring woodturning. I aspire to be able to do this full time – I’ve a way to go but that’s the exciting thing.

A question I always like to ask – what is your favourite woodturning tool, or piece of equipment?

Just the one? My new spindle gouge at the moment. It’s made a huge difference to my turning, I was using a continental style until I got this one from Mick Hanbury. My three favourite pyrography tips are a standard, the curved knife tip, and the scaler tip. These are the three I use most of the time.

Further reading