October 2020

Sally Jean Davis [Shipard] is a Canberra maker who has recently finished her mature-age carpentry apprenticeship, and started learning to make furniture this year in Canberra.

This is already Sally’s second life at only 32, after a prestigious career as a professional soccer player, representing Australia with the Matildas from 2004 - 2014.

I met up with Sally at Two Shed's Workshop in Wanniassa where she has teamed up with Jo Saccomani and her team to teach kids and women how to ‘build stuff’. Two Sheds offers woodwork & carpentry workshops and evening classes for women and children. Jo started the project in Bega in 2014 and expanded to Canberra in 2017.

Sally [left] and Jo Saccomani, founder of Two Shed’s Workshop [right].

SALLY, WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT MAKING?

I love the challenge of learning, and having spent the majority of my lifetime honing a skill with my feet, playing football, I think it’s quite an unusual direction for me to go in - but it also makes sense because I’m really chasing a skill with my hands.

Carpentry was my first port of call and what I loved about it was the creating & learning and being able to contribute to someone’s living space. It’s pretty satisfying leaving a project knowing that it will be enjoyed by a client for years to come.

A professional football career followed by 4 years of carpentry took a toll on my body, and pulling away from that full time endeavour as a carpenter and turning towards the finer stuff (furniture making) - my body has enjoyed that. I was drifting that way in carpentry, I really liked the finishes, the last couple of days on a project where you hone in on the detail - which I think is a complementary skill set to furniture making. Even though with furniture making I feel like I’m starting all over again. Again, it’s a satisfying feeling going from nothing to having something tangible at the end of the day, or the end of the project.

It can be overwhelming in a world where we’re spoilt for choice, but if there’s something inside of you that’s curious enough, especially with a creative pursuit - I would recommend pursuing it to anyone. It’s been a brilliant little journey for me so far.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF MAKING?

Over the past week I’ve actually had my most favourite project, making a composting unit for Capital Scraps Composting. I was working independently of anyone else, with a fair bit of instruction from Scott (who had been previously made three units). He’d sent me through detailed reports of how he went about it, having absorbed that, and pondering the sketch-up design, I then used my imagination as I went about piecing it together.

I really enjoyed that the project is heavily community orientated and great for the planet in that the eventual outcome is the most beautiful and fancy compost anyone’s ever seen! The composter is in a community garden in Lyneham, made out of recycled timber from Thor’s Hammer.

WHAT MATERIALS HAVE YOU BEEN ENJOYING WORKING WITH?

I really enjoy anything that can be given a second lease on life. I guess I haven’t had the chance to explore that space much yet. I’ve have a wonderful boss at Curious Tales, and he doesn’t get many jobs with recycled timber - but I know that the skills that I am learning with him will set me up in the little projects I will do on my own. I have a pretty deep connection to nature, and I feel like I can honour the trees in a way. With recycled timber especially, I like the idea that it has been used in a different way previously, then bringing it to life in a different form is pretty cool. Which makes the compost build for example, even more special - that really means something for me.

So I would say that it is recycled materials that I’ve been enjoying, and I would like to explore that space and just see where that leads.

Some of Sally’s recent projects at Curious Tales.

DOWNTIME IS BEST SPENT?

At the moment I’m renovating our van, it’s our little castle before we actually buy a house. I’ve really enjoyed that project, and I would consider that my downtime - I don’t see it as work. It’s sort of an opportunity for April and I to discuss and create together and be like “what would be the most functional setup for such a small space”. Whenever I’ve got weddings away over the weekend (Sally is also a marriage celebrant!) we tend to make the most of it and adventure away together. We’ve got a trip to Byron coming up in mid-October, so that’s the goal between now and then I want to have it ready to go more or less.

April loves to cook and I’m a pretty good assistant in the kitchen, so we eat delicious nutrient dense food, we love to spend time with family, I enjoy mountain biking, which usually means with family which is cool, heading away in the van whenever, walks in nature, good coffee!

WHAT’S YOUR BEST SOURCE OF INSPIRATION?

I really enjoy being surrounded by and learning from people that are simply good at things. That was one of my primary motivations with football, I just wanted to be competent and I wanted to keep improving. I think in life there are many highs and lows and we all hit our brick wall and some point or another, and I have a lot of admiration for people who persevere through the dark times and feel like they can kind of get to a point where they feel fulfilment and their own level of success beyond what society’s expectations are of them. AND we are never too old to try something new!

Early stages of a walnut dining chair by Sally.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR JOB?

My current job is incredibly satisfying at the Curious Tales workshop. Pete has a great amount of patience to teach me, and flexibility around my work hours. If I get another project he’s super encouraging and says go for it, if I’ve got any questions he’ll answer them. On Saturdays for example, he’s teaching me more stuff than usual, on the other three days, I work for him as per normal. Every Saturday he slows down and teaches me about all the machines, and I couldn’t be in a better position in terms of my learning - so I love that.

I also love that I can get these little gigs on the side, and explore my own independence in where my skill set is and continue to challenge myself. And it really works with weddings when they’re happening, so I like the variety. It’s a bit to juggle at times, but because I enjoy everything (most of the time – I am only human!), it never really feels like too much.

FINALLY, WHY DID YOU JOIN TWO SHEDS WORKSHOP? (The location of this interview)

Jo the founder is fabulous, and I love the idea of giving back, and connecting with kids and getting them, not so much excited as they’re already pumped when they show up - but just helping them to learn. I love the concept of what Jo’s created and want to be part of it in a way that I can help provide her support so she doesn’t have to race up from Bega every week as she has the workshop down there as well.

It’s a good community of women. Selfishly it feels pretty satisfying to pass on the small amount of knowledge I have, so I just have to stay one step ahead of the kiddies!

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO ADD?

One thing I’d really like to add is in terms of what I like about making. Which I think has translated over from football. I guess it’s the state of mindful flow (such a hip word I know!) that you can occupy when you completely zone out and there’s only that one task ahead of you. I learnt this one early with juggling a ball. At the age of 11 I sucked terribly at juggling, but knew that it would aid my touch and feel for the ball... So, I did it every day and by the age of 12 I could juggle 1000 without dropping it.

It was a valuable lesson in terms of application and concentration. It’s held me in good stead as an adult. Although I’m setting out on a new path and feeling very overwhelmed by the new space of building and making stuff, there’s a process and steps to learn. Although very enthusiastic, I have to be patient with my ambition.

Thanks Sally!

MEET THE MAKER - SALLY JEAN DAVIS [@madebyherhands]

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