Campbell River woodworker Amy Dugas will take be taking her woodworking business on the road this summer, touring some of the Island’s top fine art festivals and shows.
“I was looking for something more creative,” Dugas says. “I started with basket weaving, which was fun, but I’ve always been interested in woodworking. I had a friend who had done the joinery program (at North Island College) and highly recommended it.”
So she signed up.
The start of the program, which focuses on working with hand tools, she says, “was humbling and daunting at first,” but adds that it was also one of the best parts, because it prepares you to do the work no matter what equipment you have.”
The focus on hand tools also reinforced one of the most important aspects of joinery – patience.
“You have to go slow and work with care,” she says. “It’s easy to move too quickly and make a mistake or cut too much. It also takes you back to the history of cabinetry and joinery and reminds you what you’re doing really is a craft.”
Through the one-year program, students progress to using the industrial machinery available in the NIC shop while refining the level of precision they are required to achieve on each project.
“When we first started, our instructor Stephen (McIntosh) said he’d give us up to two millimetres of wiggle room,” Dugas says. “By the end, you have to hit no more than one millimetre. There’s no room for error, no gaps in the joints. At the beginning I thought it was unachievable, but through the progress of the program you get there.”
But when she started the program, Dugas never expected to be setting up her own shop at the end.
“I always thought I’d apply to a company and do cabinetry, but then I started making this really lovely table and got to thinking, why not give it a try? My partner was very supportive and it allowed me to focus on designing and building.”
Dugas has found she enjoys focusing on mixed media for many of her projects, combining woods with other materials such as leather and canvas in her small shop in Campbell River.
To see more of Dugas’ work, visit her website heathenwood.com or visit her at the juried Sooke Fine Arts Show July 27 – Aug. 6 and the Integrate Arts Festival in Victoria, Aug. 24 – 26.
To learn more about NIC’s Joinery/Cabinetmaking program, visit nic.bc.ca/trades.