Mauritz is a woodturner from New Zealand who came to woodturning late in life – after retiring from a long career in tertiary education management.  He enrolled for his first class in woodturning during his late sixties – with the aim of helping daughter, Yvette, to make bobbins for her lacemaking.

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Woodturning opened a whole new world for him and it gave him a new enthusiasm for life.  He fell in love with woodturning and initially made a range of bobbin lace tools for Yvette.   But he soon got side tracked by a broader woodturning vision when he discovered joy in the hidden beauty of wood, and the pleasure of turning vessels and hollow forms.

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The sense of life in wood – the feel, the grain, colour, smell, and moisture – inspires Mauritz to create and he likes the wood to determine the form.  The lathe is central to his work, and he delights in the power of the lathe to quickly change forms while producing beautiful objects, and a serendipity of shavings.

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Now in his mid seventies Mauritz still explores his craft by attending workshops and conferences in Australia.  A recent visit to Japan influenced his aesthetic of simple, subtle, and restrained forms. Mauritz is a member of the Waikato Guild of Woodworkers and the American Association of Woodturners.  He has just had his first exhibition at ArtsPost Galleries in Hamilton in December 2019.