Tom Anders Hedekær
Tom Anders Hedekær is the son of a Danish Cabinetmaker, and has enjoyed working with wood since childhood. He learned his skills from his Danish father and is now passing on his knowledge to his sons and grandchildren.
Tom’s professional life involved a long career in Forestry. He has worked in many aspects of the forest industry from tree planting, logging, sawmill work as well as studying about wood properties and wood products. Tom is a wood scientist and Professional Forester who has taught wood science, wood products, and tree identification courses to forestry students at Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, BC. In his retirement, Tom has taught woodturning courses and enjoys meeting and mentoring other woodturners.
Although Tom does a variety of woodworking including making cabinets, furniture and other small projects, his passion is with the wood lathe, turning a variety of different items from various tree species. His knowledge of trees and wood characteristics has helped him capture the artistic beauty of wood in his woodturning.
When asked where he gets his ideas and inspiration for his projects, he quips,
‘The wood spoke to me. The tree gets the credit for the beauty of the wood.’
