He left woodwork for music – then came back

A detour into music helped furniture maker Ross Thompson discover a creative side he never knew he had.

Thompson stepped away from a woodworking apprenticeship in 2010 to study music before returning to craftsmanship with a new perspective on creativity and design.

“As much as I loved [music], it just wasn’t really for me,” he said.

“I decided to marry up the creative side I’d been experimenting with through the music degree with the practical skills of the woodwork.

 

“I realised there’s a whole other world out there of practical arts. All through history, people have made a career out of that and I hadn’t explored that before.”

But it was music, Thompson said, that revealed a side of himself he had not previously explored, one that continues to influence the work produced through his South Geelong business, Ross Thompson Furniture.

“Through music I unearthed a creative side I didn’t know I had,” Thompson said. “I just needed a different medium to channel it through.

 

“There can be a 50/50 split of ‘Are you practical or creative?’ They don’t have to be exclusive but I’ve found myself right in the middle.”

Thompson believes it is this combination of creative thinking and technical expertise that has become a defining feature of his work.

“I just knew I probably had a good dose of both, and that was a really good advantage,” he said.

For Thompson, cabinetry offers the ideal canvas for bringing the two influences together.

 

“You can experiment a lot with shapes because if you think about a chair or a table, they’ve obviously got a very specific and designated purpose whereas a cabinet can be quite arbitrary,” he said.

The flexibility gives Thompson greater scope to explore different forms, materials and design ideas.

“It also gives you an ability to work with timbers in a different way,” he said. “You can also use veneers to create some pretty intricate patterns.

 

“You can definitely use the strength of timber and its grain and its visual appeal, and you can use that in all sorts of different ways.”

Thompson sources most of his timber from Melbourne and also works with imported species from North America, alongside Australian timbers such as Tasmanian oak and blackwood.

He said the availability of Australian timbers had changed significantly in recent years following the end of native forest logging, prompting many makers to seek out alternative and harder-to-find materials.

 

“I’ve followed a lot of people on Instagram who are backyard blokes who might go hunting for desert timbers or super-rare, exotic stuff, so you can often pick up some unique things you could not find anywhere else and store them in the shed for a rainy day,” Thompson said.

While Thompson jokes that his dream project would be taking three years off to build his own house, he said he already considers himself fortunate.

Today, his work ranges from collaborations with interior designers to bespoke commissions for individual clients.

“I love the job and that to me is a dream project every day,” he said.

For more information, visit rossthompson.com.au