Michael Harvey, born in England 1915 - moved to Australia 1920, has had no formal training in carving or sculpture, but in the Australian tradition liked to "have a go" every now and then when he had the time and opportunity.
Like many of his generation in Australia he has had a very varied and interesting life. Starting work in Western Australia in 1929 during the Great Depression he did many jobs until World War 11 broke out when he served as an officer in the Australian Army
After the war he purchased a small bush sawmill with an antiquated copying lathe, producing mainly axe handles. This was exciting, as production increased from 17 dozen to 45 dozen a week, but became monotonous after three years when further improvements became impossible.
He then drove an old war disposal truck (that had already done some 300.000 miles), across Australia about 2,500 miles and in those days much of it dirt roads- to try farming 450 acres of virgin bush in Victoria. This was an interesting challenge but war disabilities and economic necessity forced the sale of the Farm. He then opened a Real Estate Agency, which eventually became very successful.
When he retired he built a new house on the edge of a golf club, concentrating on golf and organic gardening, with an occasional attempt at limestone sculpture. At age 77, poor health forced him to give up golf and he joined The Peninsula Woodturners Guild in Frankston Victoria and has since concentrated on Woodturning, Carving and Sculpture.
He considers himself to be a barely adequate woodturner, (too busy exploring to do enough practice) but his innovative designs with their mostly "sweet " lines have been approved and awarded in local competitions and exhibitions.
Michael is convinced that anyone can succeed in these fields provided they try hard enough and keep at it. He says "As long as you have a good grinder you can make many of the tools you need from scrap".
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This is one of Michael's first attempts at carving, using army carpenters tools. Carved in New Guinea during a quite time after battle for the Kokoda Trail. Much of the head-dress has broken off, he knows better now than to attempt such an inappropriate design.
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The nude woman was started in an Army Convalescent Hospital using a pocket knife. Michael admits he knew nothing about carving and had never seen a nude woman. He commenced at the top and worked down to the waist. He amended her and finished her some 50 years later, when he had a little more knowledge about carving and thankfully, a lot more about beautiful woman.
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This box features the seed bed of a protea flower. At the time some members were beginning to experiment with Ornamental Turning and Michael thinks this may have influenced the judges awarding it First Prize. Although he has since turned many prizewinning articles, he insists that he would be considered a very average turner if he didn't spend a lot of time using scrapers and sand paper.
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Michael really enjoys using the lathe to get the basic shape and then carve it. It saves a lot of time and ensures a sort of rhythm and balance to a design. This technique show up well in the lily pad which started as a rimmed platter, and the flower petals which were turned in three separate pieces, then carved and fitted together. The frog is English Box and took forever to carve "Lovely wood to work with if you are patient enough"
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"Mistletoes are fun to turn. It gets you out in the bush to find the right shape and it's a real challenge to set up in the lathe. You have to move the centres a bit as the work proceeds, to get the best results".
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Michael built his present home with ceramic tiled floors to the living area so that he could do his carving at any time in comfort, and vacuum the chips in a jiffy. Most of it is done in front of an open fire, whilst he listens to music or watches ? television. The tools - a few knives and gouges mostly homemade , are spread out on the coffee table.
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This was a turned platter that went wrong and was recycled. The eucalyptus motif was inspired by the work of Robert Prenzel, a famous German woodcarver who practiced in Australia 1890 - 1940. A particularly fine example of his work is in the McClelland Gallery
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