"It's all I've ever wanted to do - it's the best job in the world."
A respected third generation Woodworker and passionate craftsman and teacher, timber's in Stuart's blood. A family and community man at heart with a passion for surf and sustainability, Stuart co-founded and runs the much loved Illawarra Festival of Wood alongside wife Suzanne, which attracts up to 10,000 wood lovers from across Australia each year.
With a Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Tasmania, Stuart's love for design is embodied in every piece he creates.
"Creating something unique that stemmed from a customer's concept and own story and then bringing it to life for them to enjoy with their own family gives me pure joy. Seeing the smile on their faces when I hand it over is such a pleasure. It's the best job in the world."
Stuart also owns and teaches at the Illawarra Woodwork School on NSW's South Coast, and his top quality classes are in demand. He has also displayed many of his timber creations as part of exhibitions across the country and is heavily inspired by Japanese woodwork traditions, travelling there regularly.
Alongside starting the South Coast Woodworkers Group, which aims to connect the finest, intergenerational artisans who work with wood, his work has also been featured in a range of respected publications and media outlets and exhibitions, whilst his family's legacy of the Montague Fine Woodworkers continues, with his sons also avid craftsmen.
Despite all this, you wouldn't meet a more humble and down-to-earth Aussie who simply loves what he does - to create custom pieces of furniture for people to love and cherish in their own lives.
Stuart carefully sources all his timber for each
unique piece he creates from a quality local mill.
Exhibitions
2020 Furniture Defines Home Studio Woodworkers Australia, Bugendore Woodworks Gallery AUS
2019 Coastal Woodworks South Coast Woodworkers, Illawarra Festival of Wood Bulli AUS
2016 Tree Cycle Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney AUS
2001 Bungendore Wood Works Gallery Bungendore AUS
2001 Refurnished Wollongong City Gallery AUS
1998 SOFA Exposition New York City USA
1997 SOFA Exposition Chicago USA
1997 Artists Make Furniture Long Galley Wollongong University AUS
1996 SOFA Exposition Australian Government Stand, Chicago USA
1996 See the Light Centre For Contemporary Craft Sydney AUS
1995 Lauraine Diggins Fine Arts Gallery Sydney Melbourne AUS
1995 Beaver Galleries Canberra ACT AUS
1995 SOFA Exposition Miami USA
1994 Furniture & Fish with collaborating artists Stuart Montague Solo Exhibition Sydney Brisbane Melbourne David Jones (Aust) Ltd
1994 Crisp Galleries Yass AUS
1993 SOFA Exposition Chicago USA
1993 Stuart Montague Solo Exhibition Sydney Brisbane Melbourne, David Jones (Aust) Ltd
1992 SOFA Exposition Chicago USA
1992 Christmas Show Despard Street Gallery, Hobart AUS
1991 Wave Piercing Art Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart AUS
1990 Dick Betts Gallery Hobart AUS
1989 Tasmanian Woodcraft Exhibition Forestry Commission of Tasmania, Hobart AUS
Featured in
2017 2515 Coast News, January
1997 Masters of Their Craft, Clay Glass Metal Fibre Wood, Noris Ioannou
1994 Australian Wood Review, Vol 12
1994 Object Magazine
1994 Craft Arts, Vol 32
1994 Craft Arts, Vol 34
1993 Elle Magazine
1994 Melbourne Sun Herald
1993 Sydney Morning Herald
1992 Interior Designers Handbook
Private Collections
Works held in Australia & USA