Raw wood to finished art in 10 days

This is the challenge facing 30 sculptors at Lake House Arts Centre. Between Thursday 7 and Saturday 16 April, the artists will use chainsaws, axes, chisels and sanders to produce spectacular art works from tree trunks and branches.

Lake House Arts Centre runs this National Live carving event every two years. The wood comes from trees felled during road works and from other construction or building sites and is stockpiled to dry in the garden of the Arts Centre on Barry’s Point Reserve, Takapuna.

The public is invited and welcome to come and see the sculptors at work in the gardens that surround the 110 year old Lake House. Each day between 9am and 5pm artists will be working to meet the deadline to finish their work. Watching the work progress from its raw state to finished art is fascinating.

The completed sculptures will be judged on Sunday 17 April by invited guest artist Marte Szirmay. The exhibition will be officially opened at 3pm that day, when all the works will be for sale. An exhibition in the Becroft Gallery of participants smaller sculptures will take place during the carving week, and continue to 1 May, while the major outdoor exhibition remains in the Lake House Grounds until the 16 May. Artists this year include Picton’s Pita Rua Lagan, Trevor Nathan, John Fergusson, Christian Nicholson, Tui Hobson, and many more familiar and new faces.