Bowmaker and Woodworker
WORKSHOP STYLE
Slow, thoughtful, contemplative.
ROB SAYS:
I like working with wood, it’s very meditative, it’s something you can get very absorbed in. My long bows are created from single pieces of wood which are peeled back with hand tools to reveal the shapes needed to create these medieval weapons. It’s a gradual ancient process, always testing the strength and bend of the bow to get maximum range.
I also love sharing the story of the long bow and how it shaped history hundreds of years ago. There is something quite mesmerising about sending a projectile sailing off into the distance and especially so when it’s something you have made yourself.
WE SAYS:
Robert Geddes is a self-taught woodworker and bowyer. There is no apprenticeship or guild to learn bowyering from in Australia, so he took his learning into his own hands. Robert is a high school teacher of English, History and Woodwork. When he isn’t teaching, he’s passing on his rare trade. Robert has exhibited his rare trade at the Lost Trades Fair at Kyneton, Bendigo and Toowoomba and has been running workshops in bowyering since 2017.
