Bricksticks

Greg Betts’ home and workplace is an abandoned brickworks on the outskirts of town. Greg calls himself a “chairmaker”, but that’s an understatement. His chairs are works of art. There are chairs with three legs and narrow backs, cottage chairs, rocking chairs, chairs with no sharp angles. “I saw a cartoonist’s sketch of this free-form chair with curves. Everything softened. I thought, ‘let’s stick with this curve thing for a while’.” He also makes tables with barrel curved bases and teardrop shapes. His furniture is made from recycled natives such as rimu, matai, totara and kauri, as well as elm, oak and oregon. “They were burning down all the elm before I came.” Each piece is bespoke, shaped with his favourite hand tool, an old spokeshave, using traditional techniques. No sanding; no nails. Once a year Greg has 8-10 artists with him exhibiting for the Artist Open Studios in

March. 18A Georgetti Road.

(06) 343 1605, bricksticks.co.nz

Greg Betts