Got a furniture-making or wood-bending problem?
Book a focused 30-minute online session with Ross Annels. Send photographs, drawings or a short video beforehand, then use the call to work through the technical, material or design question that is holding you up.
30 minutes · AU$75 · Online
Book a project or bending review — AU$75
Not sure where to start? Book a free 15-minute call.
Mentoring is also available in person at Moonlite Studios on Wadawurrung Country in Mount Egerton, Central Victoria, and for small groups of makers, artists and designers working with wood and related materials.
Some problems in making are technical. What joint to use, how to make a bent or curved shape, what thickness of material to use, or why a species 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. Before the session, send Ross photographs, drawings or a short video of the work. The session focuses on one clear technical, material or design question. Book a single review or return as the work develops. 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 at Moonlite Studios in Mount Egerton, 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
Mentoring can be useful at different stages of practice. You might be starting your first serious project, developing technical confidence, moving from competent making into more resolved design work, or testing a new direction in an established practice. Ross also works with artists and designers bringing timber, furniture or bent form into a broader practice.
What matters is not your level, but having a question, decision or piece of work to respond to. You don’t need a fully formed problem — sometimes the question is simply what to do next.
Mentoring is not a course. There are no modules, assessments or certificates. It responds directly to your work rather than following a fixed curriculum. If you want a structured introduction, a workshop or course may be the better starting point.
Courses and Workshops
If you’re looking for a structured introduction or want to develop a particular set of skills, see our courses and workshops. Moonlite Studios runs short workshops and intensive programs in furniture making, hand tools, design and timber bending throughout the year. These may be the better starting point if you want a concentrated, guided experience rather than advice responding to your own work.
If you can’t find what you are looking for you can try the directory at Furniture Making Courses
“Ross has a lifetime of experience. Knew the answers to all my questions. I learnt so much and was able to fast forward my project without making so many mistakes…” — Marcus
Book a Session
Online one-to-one sessions are AU$75 for 30 minutes and are invoiced after the session. Book when you have a particular problem or decision to work through. For in-person, small-group or longer-term mentoring, contact Ross or book a free 15-minute call.
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.