Sandra Skodnik

Sandra Skodnik can tell you exactly what it felt like when she discovered woodcarving and sculpting in her 20s.

It was electric.

The smell, the different grains, and the unique challenges that creating art with wood presents took hold of her in an instant.

And it hasn’t let go.

Life as a mum and meeting the demands of a career in graphic design and illustration may have slowed her creating for a time, but these days the art is her focus.

Sandra thinks perhaps sawdust runs through her blood.

My creative space is…

my backyard shed, which is filled to the brim with timber, machinery and tools. There is an outdoor area for the dusty work, as well as a sectioned off room for designing my projects and displaying my finished pieces.

The last piece I created is…

a large shell sculpted from ‘Red Mallee Burl’ timber with my rotary power tools and hand carving chisels. I think my favourite part of the process is seeing the colour and grain in the timber come to life when applying the first coat of wood oil.

The reason I became an artist is…

I don’t ever remember not creating, whether it be drawing, painting, or making pottery. I definitely remember the impact timber art had on me and how it instantly took over my life…it was the smells, the different grains, the colours, and the challenges that working with timber brings. I enjoy finding ways to work with and around these challenges — figuring out a solution gives me great satisfaction.

Inspiration for my art…

usually comes from the timber itself. Sculpting iInteresting shapes and wondering about the history of the timber intrigues me. I feel I’m giving new life to each unique piece by carving its story. Other times I’m passionate about representing the flora and fauna of Australia; especially the critically endangered. In those cases I design first then search for a suitable piece of timber for the project.

My work is unique because…

I think it’s the timber that is unique, I just carve its story.

My biggest artistic challenge is...

trying to keep up with all of my ideas and works in progress. Carving is quite slow and time consuming. This is why I have recently taken the step to also create limited edition bronzes of my work. These are cast from my timber pieces and the casting takes much less time!

My favourite tool for creating...

is definitely my hand carving chisels.

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