Sunbury Woodworkers Club president Anita Blume is passionate about her craft and the group’s almost 40-year history. Oscar Parry spoke to Anita about her connection to Sunbury and her role as club president.
What is your connection to Sunbury?
I came to Sunbury because it is where my husband grew up. We wanted a small town upbringing for our future children, with access to the benefits of the city … I have loved my time living here, it has been 18 years now.
What do you like about where you live?
I love that my children are able to have some of the same experiences that I did growing up … we live in a quiet street and all the kids are friends and play together often. It is great to live in a place where in one direction, you can find farms, animals and mountain ranges. Small towns with wonderful farmers markets and great cafes. In the other direction, all of the benefits of the city.
Tell us a bit about the Sunbury Woodworkers Club and what you enjoy most about being president.
The Sunbury Woodworkers is such a great group of people. We meet a couple of times a month, we talk, ask questions of each other and help each other. At our clubhouse, we participate primarily in woodturning. We have a workroom full of lathes and all of the equipment you need to get started learning the craft. We are excited by the prospect of new facilities in the near future in the new arts precinct. We love to demonstrate woodturning at every chance we get. We are at Sunbury Bunnings in the DIY area on the first Saturday of every month, and we are at the Sunbury Show and Kyneton Show every year. This year, we participated in Sunbury Street Life for the first time, which was an amazing day.
As president, it has been so exciting to work on new ideas for the club … our club is nearly 40 years old. I want it to be around another 40 – maybe with one of my kids at the helm!
How did you first get started with woodworking, and what do you enjoy most about the craft?
I remember watching my grandfather (a builder) woodturning in his garage when I was a kid … the chance to learn didn’t come up and I never sought it out. Meeting one of the club members and seeing his work, I got excited by the prospect of learning, and the fact that it was right here on my doorstep.
I went along to a meeting and I was absolutely hooked. After that first night, I could not contain my excitement about what I had achieved … I have dabbled in many different styles of art … but none of them spoke to me like woodturning has.
My favourite part of the craft used to be watching the piece take shape, seeing what it said to me as I worked on it and what shape was the best for the grain and shape of the wood. Now I love to see the light in someone else’s eyes as they get a perfect cut or see the shape coming to life … I am looking forward to the start of our year in February and hopefully new faces and opportunities to share this wonderful thing we do.
