ike Kaplan, born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1954, is a designer, woodturner and craftsman. 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 began turning 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 he was part of a joint exhibition in Lindau, Germany as well as one in Vienna. In November 1996 an exhibition was held 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. During the same year he had an article published in “The Woodturner” magazine in the United Kingdom. He has since demonstrated at the 25th Anniversary of the Utah Woodturning Symposium in Provo, USA in 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.

Currently Mike’s workshop and gallery is situated on his small holding in Sedgefield where he is focussing on more solid forms combined with scorching and carving.