Mike Kaplan, born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1954, is a designer, woodturner and photographer. In
1976 he left South Africa to study graphic and industrial design in London and returned to Cape Town in
1979 where he began his career in advertising, as an art director and designer. He is a self-taught
woodturner who made his first explorations in 1990. One year later, he began selling his work at the
Blue Shed Craft Market in the V&A Waterfront. In 1995 he moved to Knysna where he continued
working from his workshop/gallery.
During 1995 and 1996 he was part of a joint exhibition in Lindau, Germany as well as one in Vienna and
exhibited at Head Interiors, the largest design consultancy in South Africa. He has since exhibited at
Knysna Fine Art and the Knysna Art Gallery. In 1999, Mike and three fellow woodturners founded "The
Natural Edge", a woodturning gallery in Knysna. Later that year his work was featured in an article in
Country Life magazine.
In 2003, Mike was asked to submit work for display at the Instant Gallery at the AAW Symposium in Pasadena, California. He demonstrated
at the 25th Anniversary of the Utah Woodturning Symposium in Provo, in the USA during June 2004. In 2006, he was part of a joint
exhibition at the Knysna Art Gallery and his work featured in an article in “Garden Route Living”.
He is a founder member of the Western Cape Woodturners Association as well as the Knysna Woodturners Guild and has given several
talks on design at the South African Woodturning seminars, as well as being a regular demonstrator.
In 2008 he stopped woodturning returning his attentions to graphic design and seascape photography - exhibiting at Decorex in
Johannesburg.
In June 2018 Mike decided to start woodturning again, focussing on smaller, carved and decorated vessels.
I
have
recently
begun
turning
bowls
from
a
variety
of
“garden
trees”
-
trees
that
have
been
felled
because
they
have
become
too
large,
or
have
had
branches
cut
off
or
because
they
are
invasive
aliens
such
as
Australian
Myrtle
found
in
Sedgefield.
This
wood
would
either
get
dumped
at
a
garden
refuse
site
or
used
as
firewood.
It’s
a
great
feeling
being
able
to
give
this
“scrap
wood”
a
second
life
-
transforming
it
into
the
bowls
that
I
create and giving people a chance to experience the inner beauty and tactile sensation of wood.
“
If you’d like to view my latest work at my Gallery - Workshop, you can contact me on +27 44 82 2535 888
or email me at: mike@mikekaplan.art