HANDMADE
ROCKING HORSES
GET TO KNOW ME
I grew up on a farm on Australia’s Mornington Peninsula. It was the perfect environment to develop a love for natural materials, such as wood and leather, and to appreciate the beauty of the countryside.
A love of working with timber led me to I study Furniture Design and Construction at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, for one year before being accepted into the competitive Prop Making course at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney. During this three-year specialised degree, I worked with wood, leather, foam-sculpting, model- and mould-making and puppet making.
ROCKING HORSES
CLASSES
Learn to hand carve your own timber rocking horse!
Over the course of 4 days you will learn to use traditional tools and techniques to hand carve your own rocking horse. Whilst being a simplified version of an heirloom rocking horse, your rocking horse will still use all of the same joinery and constructions techniques used in all of my rocking horses. Classes are suitable for beginners, whilst still have room for experienced students to carve a more detailed rocking horse.
LATEST NEWS
EVENTS
CONTACT
Please do not hesitate to phone or email me to discuss your dream piece, place an order or enquire about a piece on this site. I am always happy to work with your particular specifications.
EMAIL: olivia@oliviaoconnor.com.au
PHONE: 0449 933 043
SOCIAL:
LIVE RADIO!
I don’t like the sound of my own voice, so I might let @glenrundellchairmaker and @ruthallenglass do most of the talking 😂😂 as we are on ABC National Radio, Saturday Nightlife Program at 10pm tonight (my bed time!)!
Tune in to hear us in conversation with David Prior as we discuss what it takes to be a maker in this modern age and the importance of good training and well made work.
It’ll be fun!
@abcradionational ... See MoreSee Less
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This is awesome!!! Everyone hates the sound of their own voice, don’t let it stop you from owning the radio waves
Timeline Photos ... See MoreSee Less
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Timeline Photos ... See MoreSee Less
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Little tour of my most recent pony 🥰 ... See MoreSee Less
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Beautiful, as usual!
Beautiful
beautiful!
So so beautiful xxx
Gorgeous
That’s the best one I’ve seen in a very long time!!😉👍
Beautiful
Beautiful.
Wow beautiful
I’m 70 yo and I still really want one of your beautiful horses - some of us are lucky enough not to grow up ❤️
Love the mane so beautiful
Just beautiful!
Absolutely stunning. I'd love one. 😍
A price please
Just love it
Beautiful
Michelle Perry
Kevin Spencer
Stunning what is the price please?
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SHARPENING!
This little collection may not look very impressive but this Saturday I’ll show you how to use these few things to get your carving tools razor sharp!
Tune in via the @carbatec YouTube channel, 10.30am Melbourne time, Saturday 8th May to view live or anytime afterwards 😊
#livestream #carbatec #sharpening #toolsharpening #woodcarving #live #free #fun ... See MoreSee Less
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Slowly, slowly scraping back layers of ‘modern’ paint to reveal the original paint work 😍
#restoration #somuchpaint ... See MoreSee Less
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So rewarding !
That's so exciting to find!
SEYMOUR ALTERNATIVE FARMING EXPO.
It is with regret that I am not attending the Seymour Alternative Farming Expo this year, I have attended every year for the last 5 or 6 years and always look forward to it in my calendar. I speak with many of the same patrons each year and have made friends with the surrounding stall holders and was looking forward to catching up with everyone after the last year.
I am still carving and making rocking horses and am in the very fortunate position to be currently booked out with rocking horse work. As such I made the decision to put my head down and keep carving, painting and stitching to honour my existing clients and finish what I have promised them on time, versus loosing a week + in the workshop to attend the expo.
I hope those of you attending have tons of fun and those of you who aren’t, mark it in your calendars for next year!
Now I’ve got to get back to work...
#seymour #seymouralternativefarmingexpo #seymourexpo #centralvictoria #rockinghorses #woodcarving #sorry ... See MoreSee Less
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My most recent livestream, carving 3D shapes
https://m.youtube.com/watch/… ... See MoreSee Less
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Some recent carvings using Australian timber:
1. Golden Wattle (branch fell in a storm down the road)
2. Blackwood
3. Huon Pine
4 & 5. Blackwood
And all the Blackwood is South Gippsland local 😍
#australia #carving #local ... See MoreSee Less
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Love them all!
My recent rabbit made from an off cut of Huon. Currently carving off cuts to get back into the groooove of carving 🤣
THE UGLIEST MOUSE.
Today was one of those #carvingfail days, where I carved the most ugliest mouse ever. It was not my intention to do such a bad job, but I thought I’d share it with you anyway...even the professionals don’t always get it right!
Please share with me your carving or work fails so I don’t feel so bad 😂😂😭
I’ll be trying to carve a super cute mouse soon, so my dreams aren’t haunted by this one 🐭🐭🐭
#uglymouse #ugliestmouse #uglymousesong #workfail #carvingfail #epicfail #woodcarving #mouse ... See MoreSee Less
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Thanks for the laugh! Seriously, out loud , alone in my car ... just bursted out the biggest laugh listening to your singing
Maybe a little beaver?
I think it’s beautiful 🙂
Looks like a cute love child between a koala and a wombat
you have a bad day at the office lol?
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Rabbit head, swipe to see it finished! I just love playing with textural facets.
I used local South Gippsland Blackwood (yes, you can carve Blackwood. I’ve only encountered 1 piece that I couldn’t even dent - it was like concrete 😩 - but this piece carved like a dream 🥰).
#rabbit #blackwood #carving #woodcarving #southgippsland #easterbunny ... See MoreSee Less
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Rabbit Family 🥰
A mother commissioned this little bunny family, for her human family - a little bunny for each, to pop in their pocket and hold when times are tough and when times are good, to remind that no matter how far they travel, they are always family. Isn’t that just so lovely?
#rabbit #woodcarving #family #bunny #familyties #love #care #huonpine #woodcarver #handmade #madeingippsland #oliviaoconnorcarving ... See MoreSee Less
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Oh my goodness, so beautiful.
Beautiful!
I just love this idea ♥️
I would love to commission something very similar, but with ducks !!!
What a beautiful concept! Wish I had thought of it. Is it going to be a one-off Olivia?
Aww ❤
Carmen Connell thought of you.
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Fireplace surround I made for my parents about 7 years ago. Every year I add a new animal face. So far they have a cow, horse, pig, chicken, dog and rabbit. It’s also fun for me to see how much my carving is improving with each new animal that is added.
#blackwood #madeingippsland #woodcarving #fire #hot ... See MoreSee Less
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Goddamn that is beautiful. making me look at my fireplace, and my total lack of carving skills
Lovely work in progress 👍
This is so lovely
Wonderful, whimsical and creative. love it.
After all this time your skills still amaze me what you can do! Wonderful
Sent y o u a PM
Beautiful
That’s just beautiful. And amazing.
That’s so cool Olivia!!
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Curls within curls. How great is woodcarving?!
#huonpine #rabbit #woodcarving ... See MoreSee Less
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SATURDAY LIVESTREAM!
Rasps and knocking out 3D shapes for carving without a bandsaw.
Sat 13th March, 10.30am Melbourne time, via the @carbatec YouTube channel.
#woodcarving #woodwork #gooddogs #bestfriends #carbatec ... See MoreSee Less
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