Hailey Pestell is one of Australia’s leading female woodturners. Photo: Supplied.
Hailey Pestell has suffered for her art in the time it has taken for her to become one of Australia’s leading female woodturners.
She has been pierced by a splinter as big as a match and smacked in the head five times by flying chunks of wood, but she reckons the advantages of sticking with her art are worth it.
“I’ve been doing it for six years and it’s changed my life in many positive ways,” she says.
Hailey, 41, from Beresfield in Newcastle, is on the drawcard for the open day at Corrimal Hobby Timber’s annual Celebration of Urban Salvaged Timber on Saturday 10 August.
Hailey, a single mum, says a simple request from her grandmother got the wood turning ball rolling.
“It started when Nan asked me to make a table for her bonsai displays,” says Hailey.
“I’ve always been handy, so I made the table after watching a few YouTube videos and I enjoyed it so much that I started investigating all sorts of woodworking before settling on wood turning.”
It is the craft of using a wood lathe with handheld tools to shape the timber into decorative or practical pieces.
Hailey says it represents a remarkable improvement in her life in more ways than one.
“Since I was a teen, I’ve suffered from clinical depression and wood turning has become the perfect therapy to snap me out of an episode,” she says.
“My brain is always racing and sometimes I get very down and negative but 10 minutes in my workshop will stop the progression of symptoms because in woodworking you have to be in the moment, especially for your own safety.”
Hailey’s Halloween pumpkin made with hollowed out timber with burnt facial features and a bark lid. Photo: Supplied.
Salad servers with wood turned spotted gum handles. Photo: Supplied.
Hailey tends to favour objects she can use in everyday life because it gives her a sense of satisfaction to know she made them – even to the point of salvaging her own timber from backyards where trees have been cut down.
“I also make some fun novelty pieces,” she says, referring to a Halloween pumpkin with burnt-out facial features.
Although self-taught, Hailey says it’s important to choose quality videos and to follow safety rules to the letter.
“In the early years, there was a moment when I wasn’t watching where my fingers were while sanding a piece of timber on the lathe. A splinter as big as a matchstick flew off and pierced right through my little finger,” she says.
“It was leaning on a nerve so I had to go to hospital to have it surgically removed and cleaned.
“I’ve also been hit several times by timber that’s flown off the lathe, which is why a full face-shield is essential because that sort of mishap can knock you out cold.”
Hailey estimates that the wood turning community ratio is about one woman to five men.
“It used to be a male domain but more and more women are doing it now,” she says.
“I’m fortunate because the men in this industry are incredibly supportive for anybody who is willing to learn and improve,” she adds.
This year is her first time at the Urban Salvaged Timber open day and she is looking forward to it.
“I love talking to crowds about wood turning,” she says. “I find it exciting and fun, and it’s a great way to spread the word.”
The Celebration of Urban Salvaged Timber open day is on Saturday 10 August, 9 am to 4 pm. It will be held at Corrimal Hobby Timber, Unit 5, 11-19 Ruddock Street, Corrimal.
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