For Trish Harman, woodworking is her release. While some people might find their zen cooking up a storm, Trish says she’d rather be out in her Quaker barn working on her latest project for her small business Good Golly Workshop. She chats with Teagan Bell about her creative process and why she loves what she does. Picture: Ben Gross
TRISH Harman has always been a creative person.
From sewing and lead lighting to silver smithing and interior design, there’s no medium she hasn’t tinkered with.
But woodworking is the one that has become her true passion.
Growing up in South Australia’s McLaren Vale, her interest in the craft stemmed from witnessing her father’s love for DIY projects.
“I think I probably picked it up from Dad because he was pretty hands on and he always made his own stuff, whether it be metalwork, timber or whatever else,” Trish says.
“But for me, working with timber was always easier.”
Though she had dabbled in small timber projects, it wasn’t until she made a cupboard for the family home that Trish’s hardware hobby got serious.
“After I made the cupboard, my husband bought me a drop saw for Christmas so I could cut angles because I was using the jigsaw, which isn’t as easy,” she says.
“So once I had that, I thought I’d start making some frames because I could cut the angles.
“Then he bought me the router and a nail gun, so it’s sort of taken off from there.”
Since then, Trish has been selling her rustic, wooden creations through her small business Good Golly Workshop.
As well as frames, her creations have since included barbecue and wine caddies, tealight holders, earrings, necklaces, coasters, coat hooks, decorative timber pieces and planter boxes, along with her most recent innovation – racks to hold essential oils.
“I started off making frames but then I started making bits and pieces and I would look at Pinterest and think ‘I could make that’,” she says. “You don’t necessarily copy what other people are doing, but you get an idea and put your own twist on it.”
As well as gathering project ideas from social media, Trish says she also takes inspiration from the beautiful scenery that surrounds her Gol Gol home.
“I’m definitely nature-driven,” she says.
“And using recycled timber, you’re recycling what you find out here so it’s good for the environment which is something that’s important to me.”
Using only recycled timber for her projects, Trish says she loves watching the transformation of the material.
“The timber I use is recycled wine oak, or sometimes what I find when I’m travelling or out on walks,” she says.
“When you put the varnish on and it brings that nice colour out after you started with something quite bland and dirty, I find it quite soothing,” she says.
Taking her wares to the Riverfront Boutique Market in 2017 for the first time, she says she was “gobsmacked” at how popular her stall was.
“I was told that was a good market to go to and I went with my daughter because she was doing macrame,” Trish says.
“I was just gobsmacked by the amount of frames I had sold – I just couldn’t believe it.”
Though the frames have proven to be her most popular product, Trish says her design process is more about trial and error than what she thinks people will buy.
“Sometimes I’ve got something in mind and I’ll go out into the shed and make that,” she says. “Then other days it’s just random.
“Sometimes what I plan on making doesn’t work and I get frustrated and I’ll walk away and then I’ll come back and make something completely different.”
She says it’s hard to pinpoint one thing she loves most about her hobby-turned-side-hustle, however, working on custom orders are high on the list.
“I’ve done quite a few custom orders – my last one was five frames which a lady wanted to put her brother’s pictures in,” she says.
“Making the customer happy is always a priority and because I know what they want and what I have to make, the process is a little more relaxing.”
Though Trish hopes the business will grow with time, she says there’s no pressure to make it a full-time job.
“I probably had big visions of retiring and doing what I love,” she says with a laugh.
“But in reality you have to sell a lot of frames to make a weekly wage.
“So I have no great plans at this stage, I’ll just see where it takes me.”
