From aeronautics to fine furniture

From aeronautics to fine furniture

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Photo of Sharon Hoult by Leigh Dome.

The same technical mind that helped keep our Air Force planes aloft is now flying high in furniture making.

After 20 years as an aeronautical engineer with the New Zealand Air Force, Sharyn Hoult wanted some balance and creativity in her life – and to settle down, and get a dog.

After finishing school Sharyn joined the Air Force which sponsored her study at Canterbury University for a Mechanical Engineering degree – a qualification that saw her travel widely during her two decades with the Air Force.

Drawing on her skills in physics, maths and calculus, her work involved a high degree of accuracy and, ultimately, tedium. “I found the days were dragging and I was keen to do something more creative,” she says. “I’d always wanted to know how to build things.”

So once again, Sharyn stepped into traditional male territory and completed UCOL’s Carpentry pre-apprenticeship course in 2004.

Three quarters of the way through her four year building apprenticeship, after a cold Palmerston North winter, Sharyn decided to return to UCOL workshops. “I’d had enough of spending weeks at a time on sites in gumboots,” she says.

She chose to enroll in UCOL’s Diploma in Furniture Design and Making programme, the only one of its kind in New Zealand. “I like to use my precision and patience as tools to enable me to be creative,” she says. She will complete the diploma this year.

“Her technical background and attention to detail is certainly an advantage in furniture making and design,” says her lecturer, Andy Halewood.

Sharyn also has the dog she’d always wanted. Kelly the Wheaten Terrier will be with her when she realises her next dream – to build her own home and create the furniture in it.

ENDS

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