Since Brian Cooper turned his love of working with wood into a house renovating project, his wife has described their Golden Bay home as like living inside a tree.
Squirrelled away in rolling farmland, former teacher and DOC hut ranger Karen says it’s a magical place.
“At night, when the lights are on inside, it’s incredible looking back in through the windows because you see the warmth – it glows like it’s alive,” she says.
Karen Cooper in her studio. Photo by Tim Cuff.
Brian took up woodwork as a hobby in his 20s, after working on construction sites as a labourer and bricklayer. “I wasn’t a builder but people started asking, because of where I worked, if I could help with their kitchens, or bathrooms, or build them tables – that’s how I realised I could do it. I’ve had lots of different jobs, usually in building, but I was never trained with tools.”
One job involved helping to build the famous Mussel Inn near Collingwood, where he discovered the joy of working with solid wood.
Each time he’d create something in his spare time he became more adventurous, teaching himself to build dressers too, and was surprised when people asked to buy them.
Eventually, after meeting Karen in 1998, he turned his hobby into a business, selling bespoke furniture with quirky characteristics. While other people viewed knots in wood as potential problems, Brian saw them as unique creative elements.
“I love how that makes each piece different,” he says. “I couldn’t possibly imitate that. To me, the more natural features you leave, including the branches and wavy edges, the better.”
In 2004 he opened a gallery, Weka Workshop, named in honour of the cheeky bird that regularly visited as he created.
He’d adorn his furniture with hand-turned wooden mushrooms, which became a signature motif. In 2015 his ‘Away with the Faeries’ bed won the highly sought-after People’s Choice award in the annual Bay Art competition. This is now in the couple’s master bedroom, accompanied by some of the artworks Karen makes – including felted lampshades, and free-flowing wooden hearts.
Brian and Karen with their enormous, handmade bed. Photo by Tim Cuff.
Brian was often invited to retrieve tree trunks that had been unearthed on farms or during clearance for power lines. After getting them to his Kaituna property he’d have them milled and rough sawn on his lawn by a contractor with portable gear.
“It would come off in big blocks and I’d get all the outer edges that way too. I’d request as many of the trunk’s natural features be preserved as would fit through the machinery. Everybody else would have just cut them off.”
He became adept at peeling bark and hand sanding to create as natural a finish as possible. Karen too would sometimes get involved in creating furniture; a dresser they built together from a tree grown by her father has pride of place alongside a bed they made.
What’s now the property’s beautiful tōtara kitchen benchtop was once windfall a farmer had gifted Brian in return for fixing the fence it damaged in a storm. “I told Karen I’d build her a kitchen out of it one day; due to lockdown that day arrived.”
With the gallery closed and Brian itching to use his timber, he threw his energies into renovating their three-bedroomed 1940s home.
It took him 14 months, including re-piling the property, re-jigging the layout and re-roofing, but the most rewarding part, he says, was what he created inside with wood. His favourite feature is what the grandchildren call ‘the tornado tree’ which looks like it’s growing and swirling through the living area.
“I found it on a farmer’s burn pile and loved the patterns and shapes. I counted the growth rings and there are 860 – so it’s nearly 1,000 years old. Farmers hate yellow pine because if there's a stump in the paddock it never rots away. I love it though; to me it’s a treasure.”
There are few straight edges in Brian Cooper's handcrafted home. Photo by Tim Cuff.
The flooring through the building is Lawson Cypress. Rich cinnamon-coloured shelves in the lounge are made from blackwood grown on their land, as are unique pelmets to keep in warmth. Stunning natural redwood slabs shiplap the walls, with wavy edges appearing as if they’re melting towards the floor.
At the head of a beautifully oiled macrocarpa table – made from a single slab cut from a local tree being cleared by lines-people – is a chair with heart-shapes within knots. “That would have been a throwaway piece of wood at a timber mill. It was all bark and ugly, but I recognised there was a diamond within it.”
Recently Brian’s learned metalwork to create an artwork combining a Toyota Hilux chassis with a ‘48 Bedford cab. Adorned with arty features, including beautiful wooden finishes, he called it the ‘Zombie Hunter’ truck and entered it into Bay Art, appearing at the event with his grandchildren in apocalyptic-style costumes and winning the Supreme Award.
Brian in his award-winning 'Zombie Hunter' truck. Photo by Tim Cuff.
“My next big project will be a combination of metal and wood,” he says. “My dream is to build a tiny home that from the outside looks like the rustiest thing on wheels, but inside has beautiful shining woodwork. I’ve talked about it long enough – it’s time I made a start.”
Story by Fiona Terry for the Summer 2024 issue of AA Directions Magazine. Fiona Terry is a freelance writer who regularly contributes to AA Directions magazine.
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