Community & Business
12 May, 2022
Concreter trades trowel for chainsaw
INDULGING in his passion for art, an ex-concreter and Speewah resident spends his days at his reclusive address, exploring his craft and sculpting unique wooden creations from his surroundings.
INDULGING in his passion for art, an ex-concreter and Speewah resident spends his days at his reclusive address, exploring his craft and sculpting unique wooden creations from his surroundings.
John Peck has spent most of his working life as a concreter and since moving to Speewah from Mackay earlier this year, has been driving concrete trucks for a local company in Mareeba. When not in the driver’s seat John keeps busy clearing his new property and making wooden sculptures using a chainsaw.
Some of John’s projects include a homage to infamous Australian outlaw Ned Kelly, a wizard holding a functional letterbox, an explorer from beyond the stars and an elephant with room on its head for a plant. John and his partner decided to make the move to Speewah in hopes of living off the grid and with their kids grown up, now was the perfect time.
John initially believed that he and his sculptures would be entering into a saturated market however, upon moving he realised that was not the case. “I thought up here there would be more of it, so I would just be one among many but once I looked around no one really does anything similar,” he said. “A lot of shops have offered me consignment and stallholders at the Kuranda markets as well, there are a few stalls there that are happy to feature my sculptures.”
While many talented woodworkers reside in the far north, not many tackle projects on the same scale as John with some of his work measuring over a metre tall. Since moving, John has been overwhelmed by the local support and enthusiasm for his niche craft. He has been approached by multiple people asking for custom projects and even been asked to teach at the local Kuranda Men’s Shed. John attributes his passion for and skill in crafting, to his uncle who taught him everything he knew at a young age using nothing more than a knife and carrot. “My uncle used to carve so he showed me his style that he used to do, I took that and done my own sort of thing,” he said. “I was always working flat out so I didn’t have a lot of time for carving, I did a lot of drawing and painting and that sort of thing. “I love it, if I could do this for a living it would be great – I’m keen to see where it can go.” Due to the surprising success and uptake of his sculptures, John has launched a small business called Down to Earth Creations and has created a Facebook page to share his work. John is now planning to build a workshop at his residence for his crafting and expand into home and houseware products such as tables and basins.
