{"id":890021,"date":"2026-09-13T02:54:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T02:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/890021\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T02:54:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T02:54:31","slug":"teen-sculptor-youngest-artist-taking-part-in-margaret-river-region-open-studios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/890021\/","title":{"rendered":"Teen sculptor youngest artist taking part in Margaret River Region Open Studios"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before Dunsborough teenager Charlie Guiver could walk, his parents were teaching him to use his own electric drill.<\/p>\n

The 14-year-old has since honed his craft as a sculptor using scrap metal, recently selling one of his pieces, a large wolf sculpture, for $8,000.<\/p>\n

Juggling school and homework, he spends all his spare time on weekends and evenings beavering away on his animal creations.<\/p>\n

“It’s just fun going into the workshop and cutting up tools and then fitting them into place, a bit like a puzzle,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Charlie Guiver spends all his spare time working in his Dunsborough studio.\u00a0 (ABC News: Mietta Adams)<\/p>\n

Charlie sources his materials from local salvage yards to create the sculptures, with his favourite a kinetic eagle which he designed to swing with the wind.<\/p>\n

“Before I start a sculpture, I know how I’m going to make it in my head, then I just go out and find the tools and weld it all together,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Charlie Guiver’s favourite piece is a kinetic eagle which moves with the wind.\u00a0 (ABC News: Mietta Adams)<\/p>\n

Opening studio to public<\/p>\n

Charlie will offer the public a behind-the-scenes glimpse into his creative process, opening his shed studio for the first time as part of the Margaret River Region Open Studios event.<\/p>\n

He is the youngest artist to participate in the show, which is the largest of its kind in the country with 155 artists opening their doors for two weeks from September 12.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Charlie was given his first drill at two years old. (ABC News: Mietta Adams)<\/p>\n

Charlie said his dream is to travel to Europe with his older brother to learn about traditional blacksmithing techniques.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know if it will ever be a career but I will always do it as a hobby,” he said.<\/p>\n

His mother Kath Guiver said he has always been interested in taking apart and re-making toys and is “very proud” of his artwork.<\/p>\n

“It’s hard to reconcile the age he is because he comes out and does these amazing things,” she said.<\/p>\n

End of an era<\/p>\n

As Charlie prepares to share his studio for the first time, it will be the last time Margaret River glass artist Gerry Reilly will open his studio to the public.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Gerry Reilly uses a kiln heated to 1,100 degrees Celsius for his glass creations.\u00a0 (ABC News: Mietta Adams)<\/p>\n

Having operated as an open studio seven days a week since 1991 and participating in the region’s open studio event since its inception 13 years ago, it is with mixed feelings he prepares to close the kiln.<\/p>\n

“I’m at an area in my career now where I’ve made objects and studied for 50 years and I might step back from it a little bit for a while and just see what else evolves into that space,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I’m kind of looking forward to having a break, but I’ve also got some trepidation about what I’m going to do with my time next.”<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Some of Gerry Reilly’s creations on display at his Melting Pot Glass Studio in Margaret River. \u00a0 (ABC News: Mietta Adams)<\/p>\n

He said the event attracts people to the Margaret River region from across the state and the country to learn about the skills involved in glass blowing.<\/p>\n

“If people just see your stuff in the gallery, they might wonder how it’s done. But here they can see and explore it themselves,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Gerry Reilly, with partner Margot Edwards at their studio in Margaret River. (ABC News: Mietta Adams)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile for the artists, Reilly said it is an important opportunity to present their work and boost sales after the quieter winter period.<\/p>\n

Last year, the event attracted more than 100,000 studio visits and generated more than $2 million in art sales.<\/p>\n

The event runs until September 27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before Dunsborough teenager Charlie Guiver could walk, his parents were teaching him to use his own electric drill.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":890022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4624,64,63,459657,180291,459656,459658,459655,459659,44,86,166515,354851,46480,45],"class_list":["post-890021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-artist","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-charlie-guiver","tag-craft","tag-craft-art","tag-gerry-reilly","tag-margaret-river-open-studios","tag-melting-pot-glass-studio","tag-news","tag-perth-news","tag-scrap-metal","tag-sculptor","tag-sculptures","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=890021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/890022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=890021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=890021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=890021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}