Before the long shadows and long nights

Before winter arrived I felt like a floating seed in the air, reaching out to other spoon makers in the UK and further afield. One reason was because I felt a in need of something different, something out of my comfort zone. This I hoped would be what I needed to push me further in my skills as a spoon maker. Another was I felt i’d almost been working in a vacuum and just needed to see lots of different work and to explore other ways of making so as to be more in accordance with my own. The idea came after Spoonfest 2014, SPOON SWAPS! I had seen some of the great spoons people were swapping but at the time needed to sell as much as I could to pay bills. Each person chosen had something I liked and something I was unsure about in there work but pictures aren’t good enough when exploring 3 dimensions. I’ve learnt loads from carving my own versions of each spoon, non of which are intended as a direct copy. Tom LB from Essex. (beech) This has a fantastic bowl for eating cereal, it glides through what ever i’m eating and has the lolly-pop feel in the mouth. however the handle doesn’t fit so comfortably in my hand.

my version in cherry

Amy Woodmungler in Sussex (blackthorn) wonderful overall balance to this one and like Tom’s had a great bowl this time for eating pasta although it’s not so dynamic in the profile. Also the cheeky little face on the handle is great fun.

my version of this has been sold so no images. next up is Yoav Elkayam from Israel (birch) it works a treat for cooking and small serve-ups, similar to a welsh crawl spoon, the octagonal handle makes it very light and easy to use but the bowl could be a bit thin and may even end up cracking in a few years time (I hope not).

my version in alder

Last up Jane Mickelborough from Brittany (cherry) bags of style and experience here, great piece of cherry and comes with a fan in the handle to help cool down the food. my favourite aspect is the profile which has some very swarve curves and facets going on. for me the handle is a little to wide and does tend to slip from my and when eating.