As a graduate, Jo Bidwell was taken under the wing by internationally renowned furniture designer David Trubridge who invited her to join his Whakatu Studio in Hawkes Bay where she worked with other talented designers and furniture makers. This experience sharpened her skills, gave rise to sculptural works, and saw her pieces showcased in various exhibitions around New Zealand.

Drawn to sharing her passion and knowledge as an educator, she subsequently side-stepped into a rewarding teaching career. For a little over a decade she taught design technology, practice, and theory, to high school students. While teaching, Jo continued to experiment with design and woodwork, out of her small home studio in Auckland.

She adopts a thoughtful and iterative hands-on design approach that considers every aspect from the material at hand to the user interaction and the environmental impact. Recycled timber combined with textured finishes features heavily to create unique pieces.