A short blog post in honour of John Ruskin’s birthday. Ruskin’s writing have been a major influence on my own philosophy both directly and indirectly through Gandhi and Morris. The work that has most influenced me is The Nature of Gothic, from the Stones of Venice here is a sample quote. “We want one man to be always thinking, and…
Jon Henley writes for the Guardian, his writing is a craft in itself, he is a notebook and shorthand man not a blackberry/iphone/google journalist. He is also a passionate advocate for the crafts and trades and I would love to share some of his choice pieces of writing. I first met him when he started a series called disappearing acts…
Here is a preview of great article on spooncarving by my friend Jon Henley meeting my other friend Barn Carder coming out this Saturday in the Guardian. “You risk – there’s no getting around it – a bit of a ribbing when you say you’re going to learn to carve a wooden spoon. “A spoon?” is, at any…
I often get asked if I take on apprentices. On the whole I am willing to share my skills so long as those that come to learn can find a way to make it work so that they are not a net drain on my business, which actually isn’t easy. Crispin will be working with me throughout February, he is…
I love my job. I make useful things that people get pleasure from using. Yesterday was spent making spoon carving knives, some would consider it boring repetitive work, putting an identical 20 degree bend in 750 blades. I get pleasure out of setting everything up so that it works efficiently, smoothly, precisely, with little stress on my body. Then I…
It is hard to know how to do justice to this book in just a few words. The book is the product of 11 years meticulous research by Tanya Harrod, possibly the best writer commentating on the craft field today. Michael Cardew is a seminal figure in 20th century craft and a torch bearer for a particular focus within the craft…
Many people in the world have no idea how good a wooden spoon can be so I have put together some of the best from my own kitchen collection. Have a look at these below, all carved by hand with an axe and knife. Each one a functional sculpture. Who would not want to banish plastic and metal from their…
Just found this and love it What is he? -A man, of course. Yes, but what does he do? -He lives and is a man. Oh quite! But he must work. He must have a job of some sort -Why? Because obviously he’s not one of the leisured classes. -I don’t know. He has lots of leisure. And he…
In the UK traditional crafts have tended to fall between the arts and heritage not recognises as one or the other. The arts don’t recognise us because we are not innovative enough and in the UK heritage means buildings and monuments rather than living traditions and skills. As an example of this Sheffield Council has a culture plan which does…
For carving spoons you need a bent knife to hollow the bowl. Over the years I have been carving and teaching I have struggled to get good knives. For a while I was buying them from Bo Helgesson in Sweden and they were excellent but he does not seem to be making them now. There are various folk making them…
