Mentoring at Moonlite Studios offers one-to-one and small-group learning for makers, artists and designers working with wood and related materials. Based at Moonlite Studios on Wadawurrung Country in Mount Egerton, Central Victoria — around 90 minutes from Melbourne — mentoring is offered both in person and online, with participants working from across Melbourne, regional Victoria, interstate, and internationally.
Some problems in woodworking and furniture making are technical. A joint that won't close, a curve that won't hold shape, the dimension of material to use, a species that keeps failing when steam bending.
Others are harder to name — a sense that your work isn't yet saying what you want it to say, or that you're solving the same problems repeatedly without getting further.
Ross works with makers on both kinds of problems.
This mentoring is structured around your work, your questions, and the stage you’re at.
On Bending
Much of Ross's practice — and much of what makers seek him out for — involves bent form. Steam bending, kerf bending, laminated bending, and the mould-making and species selection that makes any of them actually work. These methods are related but not interchangeable, and knowing when to reach for each one, and why, is the kind of judgment that takes years to develop alone.
If you're working with bent form and hitting a wall, that's a good reason to get in touch.
On extending Your Practice
Bending is one thread. But makers seek Ross out for broader questions too — how to develop an idea from sketch to resolved form, how to set up a workspace that supports serious making, how to bring more intention and meaning to the work itself. If you're asking yourself what to make next, or why, that's a good place to start a conversation.
On Material Thinking
There's a particular moment in creative practice where an idea needs to become a thing — where conception meets material reality. Ross works with artists, designers and makers who are navigating that space.
This isn't just problem solving. It's a design intelligence built through decades of working with wood and other materials — understanding what form, structure and process will and won't do, and using that understanding to help an idea find its most resolved physical form.
If you're a creative practitioner who knows what you want to make but not yet how to think your way into making it, that's worth a conversation.
Ways to work together
Online — one to one
30-minute sessions via video call. Between sessions you can send Ross footage of work in progress — a bend that's not behaving, a mould you're not sure about, a design decision you're wrestling with — and he'll respond with a short video before you meet again. AU$75 per session.
Online — small group
Occasional synchronous sessions for small groups of makers working on related problems or projects. These suit study groups, graduates wanting structured peer review, or makers who'd benefit from hearing how others approach similar challenges. Priced per person — get in touch to discuss.
In person — at Moonlite Studios
A day working together in the studio at Mount Egerton in the Central Victoria. Suited to makers who want hands-on time with equipment, materials, and processes. Pricing on application.
In person — at your studio
Ross is available to travel to your studio for focussed working days. Useful if you want eyes on your own setup, your timber stock, your jigs and forms. AU$500 per day plus travel costs. Get in touch to discuss logistics.
Areas of Focus
Mentoring is shaped by your work but often includes:
- Furniture making and design development
- Timber bending and bent form techniques
- Joinery and construction methods
- Studio practice and workflow
- Developing material understanding and design thinking
Who this suits
You're probably a good fit if you're a mid-career maker moving seriously toward furniture, or a committed hobbyist who's past the beginner stage and wants to work with more intention. You don't need to have a specific problem to bring — though it helps to have work in progress.
This isn't a course. There are no modules, no assessments, no certificates. It's a conversation between makers. Mentoring differs from structured courses in that it responds directly to your work rather than following a fixed curriculum.
Courses and Workshops
If you're looking for a more structured introduction, see our courses and workshops. Ross runs at least one bending-focused class each year at Moonlite Studios, and teaches periodically at other institutions around Australia. He offers a range of intensive programs focussing on particular sets of skills and ways of approaching making. These are a good starting point if you want a concentrated experience.
If you can’t find what you are looking for you can try the directory at Furniture Making Courses
Rate and booking
Online one-to-one sessions are AU$75 for 30 minutes, invoiced after each session. For all other enquiries, use the contact form or book a free 15-minute call to talk through what would suit you best.
Book a one-time free 15-minute call
Book an online mentoring session — AU$75
About Ross
Ross Annels has been making and teaching for over 25 years, across Australia, and internationally — including teaching at the Qld College of Art, the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Sturt School for Wood and the JamFactory. Bent form has been central to his practice for most of that time, across sculptural furniture, installation, and commission work.
Ross works with a small number of mentoring clients at a time. That's deliberate.
Mentoring is based at Moonlite Studios on Wadawurrung Country in Mount Egerton, Victoria.