Aireys Inlet
Wrought Iron Balustrade
Organic and freeform balustrade for a cliff top residence inspired by the ocean below.
Private commission
Wrought iron and quartz
Copper blue-green patina
2003
Insights: The Art of Woody Blacksmith, Helen Booth © 2012
“The house, designed by architect Tony Hobba, nestles on cliff tops overlooking the sea. Portico and side gates and the roof terrace balustrade wear a copper finish in a blue-green patina. Stands flow like waves breaking in the wind and occasionally grab and clasp lumps of white quartz. A soundtrack of actual waves crashes and ebbs in the background. Rippling metal reeds form the pool fence. Inside, the balustrade is an intricate, continuous flow of seaweed reaching up each side of the three-storey staircase. Hobba says, ‘Woody has the real ability to make metal look fluid’. His brief to Woody was ‘ocean living’. Woody loved the freedom this gave him to use natural, organic forms and systems. ‘My work is not very existential. I’m inspired by simple things from everyday life that people usually take for granted. Sometimes I experiment with symmetry and dimension – maybe to surprise people so they’ll notice things or think differently about them.’ Hobba says: ‘Everything Woody did was really inspired and equally practical. His initial sketches were great, but I was amazed when he laid out a full-scale brown paper template of the design on his studio floor. He’s a really gentle sort of a bloke; he just quietly gets on with it.’ (The late) Frank Costa sums Woody and his work up in just three words: ‘creative, artistic and individual.’”
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