The “old-school” skateboard leaning against the stall table is what catches the eye of market-goers, long before their gaze drifts skywards to its creator – a dreadlocked character under a comfortable wide-brimmed hat.
The handcrafted timber wheels, meticulously carved deck and decorative symbols present a quirky work of art that seems destined more for a trendy bar wall than an everyday mode of transport on a dirty strip of bitumen.
Anthony Grace has the skateboard on display and for sale at his weekly stall at Pomona Markets on Saturdays and is happy to chat about the piece and his multi-faceted business, The Wood Alchemist.
“That board took me 136 hours to create,” said Anthony, who works mainly with Australian recycled, rescued or repurposed wood.
“I would say two hours was in the creation of the wheels, another hour in the preparation of the deck for the pyro burning, probably another three or four hours in design and 129 hours in actual application.”
Anthony, who has lived on the Coast for nine years, was invited to create a piece for Coolum’s All Aboard Skate and Surf Exhibition last year. He was offered $3000 for the skateboard on the opening night of the month-long exhibition.
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“I turned it down because I wanted that piece to stay in the exhibition for the month. (The prospective buyer) wanted to take it that night.
“Money is not my driving factor.
“I’ve still got it – very reluctant to sell it. But the right person will see it and they will meet me on the right price. It’s still very much up for sale.”
It’s no wonder that, as an Irish-born South African of Danish descent with a penchant for Nordic and pagan symbols, Anthony ensures his art pieces tell a story.
More than that, he tries to find just the right owner for each one.
“I do weave particular intentions into specific pieces, depending on what people want to hold in their heart,” said Anthony, who was travelling in the United Kingdom in 2000 when he decided to migrate to Australia and start a family.
“I believe every bowl when I make it has a particular person that it’s going to. It’s just a matter of that particular person coming across that bowl.
“There are specific prayers woven into the pieces I create.”
Pyrotechnical burning is what the self-taught Anthony uses for decorative effect. It’s taken him about 20 years to master the technique.
“There are certain techniques that you need to use when doing the pyro burning. It’s not as hard as people think it is, but it is technical in its application,” he said.
“Once the technicalities are taught, the world’s your oyster. If you can pick up a paintbrush and paint, you can pick up a pyro pen and burn.
“There’s processes called overburn and underburn, especially when you’re doing shading.
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“It’s all about timing and working with a metronome. The metronome keeps you on time with the burn.
“The metronome’s rhythm of ‘tick and tock’ is ‘burn on, burn off, burn on, burn off’. That ensures a consistent burn: you get a uniform match. The same shading gradient.
“Overburn your piece and it goes too black, and you don’t want to underburn it – where it’s too light.”
Currently based at his brother’s farm in Peachester, Anthony is challenging himself on a grander scale by making a surfboard along similar artistic lines.
But at any given time, he has about 40 pieces on the go – from light features and pendants to bowls and wall art – to ensure a constant, creative flow.
“Wood has been a passion of mine on and off throughout my life,” he said, having spent the morning “weaving some magical pendants out of gidgee wood” (Acacia cambagei or stinking wattle).
“I seemed to have this crazy notion that it was going to be a hobby in my life and I was going to walk in a very straight mining construction/corporate line, having worked for Mercedes-Benz and in the mining construction field.
“I left that in 2014 to follow my passion and my heart and take my hobby seriously.
“It has subsequently grown and expanded from there into so many different avenues, of community benefit and of benefit to The Wood Alchemist.”
Admitting he constantly needs to indulge his extreme creativity, “otherwise I get frustrated”, Anthony is kept busy with commissioned work and supplying the Pomona Market stall he has run since the beginning of the year, where opals and gem creations are his bread and butter.
But he also has a much greater vision: to draw out everyone’s creative talents through the workshops he hosts and perhaps even empower participants to take the next steps forward in their lives or establish their own business around artistic pursuits.
Anthony is keen to work locally with individuals, groups and charities, but his efforts already reach further afield.
“We do a lot of Outback community work,” Anthony said of the team behind The Wood Alchemist.
“We are going in October to teach workshops in the Outback, empowering communities.
“We’re heading out to Cunnamulla, Eulo and Wyandra – that part of southwestern Queensland for the last part of this year.
“Next year, we’re looking at Charleville and around Roma.
“We teach woodwork skills, pyro-burning skills, the basic skills of creative expression.
“I show people that it’s not that hard to do what I do. It’s not that hard to make a living from it.”
Anthony said that once the workshops gave people the skills and training, The Wood Alchemist team could link them with the right government or community agency to help them to move forward in establishing a business or taking the next steps in their life.
Having enjoyed “a tremendous 10 years of growth” in his own business, Anthony and other key stallholders have a much greater community vision for the Pomona Markets.
Part of that vision is to offer an outlet for people in the Outback to sell their artworks and craft through an on-site stall. In the new year, there’s also the possibility of a hinterland retail store.
In the meantime, local residents can book for the range of The Wood Alchemist’s creative workshops (including silversmithing, pyro burning and opal cutting) by calling Jade Mason on 0474 593 520.
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