The Coromandel’s Nature Distilled Into Form and Finish
Imagine this: morning light filtering through the trees near Parakiwai, where Jazz Gilsenan-Fitzgerald’s workshop hums with the sound of planes smoothing wood. Inside, native timber takes shape under her hands – transformed into kitchens, cabinets, and furniture that marry function with quiet beauty.
A cabinetmaker for twenty years, Jazz crafts pieces that feel destined to become heirlooms. Yet ask if she considers herself an artist, and she hesitates. “I’ve never really called myself one,” she admits. But her work tells another story – from the bespoke solid wood kitchens and finely formed and finished furniture down to her delicate circle chimes, fashioned from timber offcuts, every piece screams dedicated artisan to me. The designs feel thoughtful, yet effortless and the finish is impeccable.
There is a profound, living dialogue at the heart of Jazz’s work, one that begins long before a tree becomes a table. It is the intrinsic relationship we share with rākau. They breathe in what we breathe out; we breathe in what they breathe out. This reciprocal breath of life – oxygen for carbon dioxide – is the original dovetail joint, a perfect, seamless join between our species. To work with wood is to collaborate with this ancient cycle, to shape something that has literally helped sustain life. Jazz’s respect for this material is a respect for that life-giving connection, a recognition that timber is not merely a resource but a gifted, breathing entity now stilled into a new, beautiful form.
Jazz’s journey with wood began early, a path deeply interwoven with family. Growing up in Laingholm, she spent childhood days in her father and brother’s workshop, learning the trade that would become her calling. “I realised working with my hands was the dream job,” she says. “No separation between making and living.” Her father, Dave, recalls a natural aptitude, noting her good eye and her determined, modernist style. Theirs was a relationship built as much in the workshop as at home, a comfortable, seamless partnership where precision and a refusal to cut corners were the fundamental lessons passed down.
Twelve years in Kūaotunu and now based in Whangamatā, she’s honed a style that blends Japanese minimalism, Danish functionality, and mid-century warmth. “The whole should be greater than the sum of its parts,” she explains. Whether it’s the tōtara shelves and countertop she crafted for her sister’s shop, Nook Grocer, or a custom bedside table, her designs celebrate wood’s natural character. She speaks of tōtara with a particular fondness, drawn to its “soft and subtle grain, and beautiful warm colour variations”.
Jazz’s days start at sunrise – “I can’t get up if it’s dark” – with coffee, a run, and then into the workshop. These days, she’s swapped the seclusion of working from home for a dedicated space in Parakiwai, where podcasts and audiobooks keep her company as she works. The rhythm is methodical, the process patient.
As I said, her finishes are flawless, a testament to that patience and precision. “You can’t rush the end,” she says. And while she credits her Festool sander for part of the magic, it’s her deep-seated respect for the material and the process that truly shines. This respect is palpable. I always marvel at te taiao, mother nature, the way every colour is exactly right, every composition a perfectly balanced masterpiece. Such ease and grace. I get kind of the same feeling looking at Jazz’s creations.
I sense an understanding that to work with wood is to honour that initial, life-sustaining bond. This is a serious craft, and as Jazz wryly notes, there’s no room for error: “No accident in the workshop is ever happy – If you know, you know …!”
A Danish paper cord totara stool / Jazz in her Current Workshop
Living in the Coromandel means Jazz is never far from the source of her inspiration. When she needs to step away, Ōtama Beach is her retreat – a place to unwind with her dog and let the coastal air clear her mind. “Nature here keeps you in awe,” she says. That connection to place echoes in her work, where native timbers are not just a medium but the very essence of the whenua.
Jazz may not claim the title of artist, but her work does it for her. From exquisitely crafted functional furniture to those waste-free whimsical circle chimes (available from Nook Grocer in Whitianga), she shapes wood with a quiet mastery that speaks volumes. In each piece, you can sense the legacy of her father’s workshop, the breath of the rākau, and the calm, focused intention of a true craftsperson.
Find her circle chimes: Nook Grocer, Whitianga
Connect with Jazz
Instagram: fitzfurniture_
Website: www.fitzfurniture.co.nz
Email: jazz@fitzfurniture.co.nz
Words by Lana Garland
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