Permanent Exhibitors

Marcus Kruger

Wood Turner / Cabinet Maker

Marcus is an experienced cabinet maker and wood turner servicing discerning clients who recognise and appreciate design and finish quality since 1992 under his label Marcwoods. Working on a commission basis only his pieces are to be found in South Africa, America, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Australia and England. Marcus is recognised for his designs that push the envelope in the use of cabinetry techniques, jointing and grain patterning. Marcus collaborates with the client directly to establish the function the piece is to fulfil, design and timber selection. Each piece is unique, signed and dated by Marcus and will not be replicated for another purchaser. As the purchaser of the piece owns the copyright photographs of the work is not available for publication. A selection of his work is available at the Arusha Designs Art Gallery in Hilton. He has exhibited at and judges woodworking shows in South Africa. Marcus has presented training sessions in cabinetry techniques, design, finishing and use of power tools and will be re-opening his training school at his workshop based in Hilton in 2017. The pieces on display were turned while in Arusha, Tanzania in 2015 from jacaranda and indigenous timber reclaimed from the property where he resided. For Marcus turning is his hobby, where he can allow the form of the raw material to dictate the design. He continues to turn in Hilton using reclaimed wood, fallen timber and roots.

Neil Knight

Artisan Pen Maker

Neil is a practising attorney specialising in property law whose passion is wood turning. Forced to scale down his workshop he now manufactures exquisite turned pens. The pens are made to a design that takes one back to the 1930’s art deco era. During this period there was a fascination with beautiful objects made from exotic materials. Each pen is hand turned on a lathe using various materials sourced largely from the USA and Europe. Included in these materials are different plastics and acrylics, beautiful timbers, horn, or alternate ivory. The pens are ballpoint and use a Parker style refill.

Kevin Ellis

Designer

From a young age, Kevin has had a passion for creativity, design and logical thinking. In 1991 he got his first design job and created products for that company for the next 17 years. He now designs full time in his own business for Rocwood Designs and does freelance design for industries such as packaging machinery, catering equipment, medical equipment amongst others. Kevin also works with ceramic artists the likes of Astrid Dahl, Ian Calder, Michelle Rall and Lois Strong. Kevin, a true craftsman at heart, is often found creating magnificent pieces of wooden furniture in his leisure time or dabbling with functional solutions to challenges around the home in a variety of materials. Most of Kevin’s designs are of a technical nature; however Kevin is able to blend stylishness with functionality in gracious harmony.

Live Hinge Bags:
Using a combination of quality, local SupaWood as the core, laminated between layers of locally produced hardwoods like Kiaat and Ash, Rocwood Designs crafts live hinge handbags. Rocwood uses good quality leather and fittings to finish off these designs. We undertake commissions and create bespoke products to suit your specifications.

Eco Timber Traders

Exotic Timber Merchants

Arusha also has on display some raw pieces of wood from ECO Timber Traders, to show the public the raw mediums from which wood workers craft their pieces. The raw wood is available for sale and for the wood workers to buy.

Eco Timber Traders are exotic timber merchants that import and stock over 40 different species of hardwoods and plywood’s from around the world.
They supply a wide range of customers from knife makers, wood turners and musical instrument manufacturers using rare woods like Ebony, Tambuti and Purple Heart to large furniture manufacturers and Shopfitters buying containers of Beech and Mahogany. We have branches in Pinetown, KZN and Honeydew in Johannesburg. The owners of the company travel extensively to source the finest quality timber from around the world. Stock comes from Italy, France, USA, Brazil, Africa, S.E Asia and Russia. The staff at Eco Timber Traders are passionate and knowledgable about the products they sell.