Roy Schack
After ten years in the merchant bank industry, I recognised a personal need to have a more tactile career path. On completing my studies at the Sturt School for Wood in 1994, I threw caution to the wind and opened up my first workshop in Brisbane. I have been operating from Queensland ever since, and have now established my own purpose-built studio in the beautiful Samford Valley, just 25 km northwest of Brisbane’s CBD.
I teach through The Brisbane School of Fine Woodwork, and I make under the banner of Roy Schack Fine Furniture. I find combining these disciplines a very natural process, as the two complement each other very well.
Coming from Denmark, good design and craftsmanship has always featured in my life and has proven to be a huge influence on my own work ethos. Over the years, articulating the influences on my work has become easier, and I’m finding that there are natural ties between those things I love—the Danish culture, the Japanese way of understanding space, and the humility of Shaker style. When I look at furniture and object design from any one of these three areas I recognise similarities with the other two. I pay homage to these three influences with my maker’s mark: three sterling silver dots forming a triangle.
The things that matter most to me as a designer-maker include quality without compromise, a good working relationship with my clients and above all else, my own enjoyment in the process. I work almost exclusively in solid timber and utilise a combination of traditional and modern joinery techniques.