Christiaan | Wood Carver, Working with Tasmanian Timber

Christiaan McCann is a woodcarver who works with Tasmanian timbers — materials that carry their own character long before any tool touches them. Christiaan's profile at FNB Hobart Makers describes a maker who turns carefully selected pieces of timber into handmade objects that are both useful and decorative: wooden animals, kitchenware, spatulas, spoons, signs, hearts, keyrings and gifts. Each piece is shaped and finished by hand, one at a time.

Choosing the timber

The timbers Christiaan works with are Tasmanian through and through. Huon Pine, Myrtle, Blackwood, Tasmanian Oak and Sassafras each bring their own grain, colour and working qualities. Selecting the right piece for a given object is itself part of the craft — the figure in the grain, the density, the way the wood has dried, all of it shapes what the finished object will become. Working with local timber means the material has a provenance before the carving even begins.

From piece of wood to finished object

Christiaan's process moves through selection, shaping, carving and finishing. A length of timber becomes something held in the hand — a spoon or a spatula worn smooth by use, a small carved animal with its own particular character, a sign or keyring cut to last. The work is unhurried and attentive: the kind of making where the material gets a say in the outcome. Finishing brings out the warmth and depth that Tasmanian timbers are known for.

What he makes

Christiaan's profile describes a range that spans the everyday and the decorative. On the useful side: kitchenware, spatulas and wooden spoons made to be cooked with and kept. On the decorative side: carved wooden animals, hearts, keyrings and small gifts — objects that make a considered present or a simple keepsake. Signs round out the range, handmade in timber for the kind of lasting quality that printed alternatives rarely match.

Part of a shared making community

Christiaan is one maker among others who are part of FNB Hobart Makers — a community built around handmade goods, creative skills and small projects. The community is connected to the wider mutual-aid work of FNB Hobart, where making and participation sit alongside each other. FNB Hobart Makers brings together people with different crafts and different kinds of skill, creating a shared table where work gets made, shared and supported.

You can explore available work from Christiaan and other makers in the FNB Hobart Makers shop — where pieces are listed as they become available. To learn more about the maker community and the people involved, visit the Meet the Makers page.