Its with deep sadness that I am writing about the passing of my friend Brian Alcock the last full time self employed grinder in Sheffield. I had so much admiration for this man and treasured every moment I spent in his company. In many ways he was very simple, he worked unbelievably hard still starting work at 6am and doing…
Its been a whils since I’ve updated the blog and I have exciting news for spooncarvers. The Harewood Biennial is one of the most important craft shows in the UK. This year the focus is “Radical Acts” and in an increasingly digitised, comercialised world the simple act of carving a wooden spoon becomes one of the more radical things we…
I’ve been away from the blog for a while and one of the reasons is that I’ve been posting regular daily updates about my craftwork on Instagram instead. The blog is a great place though to share thoughts and I hope to do more of that starting by sharing what I have learned whilst growing an instagram following of over…
This week I was devastated to learn that Clayton’s tannery one of a handful of traditional tanneries left in the country was to close after 178 years making some of the highest quality leather in the world. They have also been my leather supplier for the last 25 years. I feel very much for the people, the skills and the…
For the last five years we have been making tools from home. The garage is stacked to the ceiling with stock. The woodshed is full of axes being oiled up and the front room has been turned into a leather workshop. People want more tools but we just don’t have the space or capacity to do it from here. There…
Here is a book full of surprises. It could have been a book that just had a spoon course in a book, the spooncarving community would have bought it. It could have been a book of inspirational spoon pictures I’d have bought that, it could have been a lovely lifestyle book full of out of focus pictures of earthy toned…
This is a follow up to my popular blog post on how to price craftwork. There I argued that context was everything and that price can not be separated from context. There is I think an idea in the craft world that things have some form of inherent value, some things unquestionably achieve higher prices or are in more demand. Often shortage…
Whilst you may not have heard of a Tuatahi axe I imagine most folk that read my blog will be familiar with the sport of axe racing, if not this is what it looks like. Those are no ordinary axes, they are racing axes, set up with edges at very acute angles between 13 and 18 degrees, bear in mind…
I am an environmentalist. I sincerely believe that our current consumerist society is trashing the earth and robbing our children and grandchildren of the inheritance that we had. They sadly will not inherit an earth in sound health ready to sustain life, fecund with healthy soil, stable climate, clean water and air. I have been a professional craftsperson for twenty…
A couple of weeks ago I was in the North of Scotland working at the Balvenie distillery, turning some quaichs at the launch of some very special whisky. Whilst there we took the time to visit some very special places. On the way up we just had to drive through Glen Quaich. I’ve been turning quaichs for over ten years…
