‘Shape-maker’ prefers salvaged wood
‘‘I could be called a sculptor or a carver but really I’m a shape maker.’’ For almost 40 years, Christchurch artist Andrew Lyons has created shapes at his Heathcote Valley workshop.
The 66-year-old has held many jobs over the years, from postie to television set-builder.
He works mainly in salvaged wood, sourced from wreckers yards and West Coast beaches.
He wouldn’t cut down a living tree just for carving, preferring wood others don’t want. In his younger years, ‘‘when the body was more robust’’, he would traverse Banks Peninsula for felled trees and driftwood.
‘‘Our driftwood here in New Zealand is amazing, it always has such amazing shape and grain.
‘‘You just never know what you’re going to get when you cut into it,’’ he said.
After a neighbour’s cottage was damaged in the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes, he and wife Carole Stevens bought the section to open a gallery. With friends, they built and opened the Heathcote Valley Gallery in 2015.
‘‘It’s great being your own boss. Whatever I make I can put in there, no matter how weird it is. It’s also great to have somewhere creative friends of mine can sell their pieces,’’ he said.
‘‘Things sometimes take a long time to sell but eventually they find a new home. Some things have been there for years.
‘‘It’s a bit of a silly place really to have an outlet in a little isolated valley like this, but I wouldn’t live anywhere else.’’
After finishing school at St Bede’s College he trained as a cabinet maker, but ‘‘got sick of the straight lines’’ as he ‘‘always liked curves’’.
His latest commission is for the Hanmer Heritage Forest Trust, creating four large-scale animals to be dotted around Hanmer Springs. He is using wood felled from the village’s iconic redwood trees.
‘‘I really like animals, and love going to wild places and eavesdropping on nature, just seeing what lurks out there.’’