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…
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…
Here is a wonderful film. I am so excited by the 21st century we can use the most amazing technology to find and link up with folks around the world with an interest in simple technologies. Great film making and ace music too. Yoav bought a porringer off me a month ago, if I am thrilled that it has gone…
Each year around this time we get a load of stuff shared on facebook suggesting we buy local, craftsman made etc. All worthy enough but this year I really liked this one. The sad thing is that it is being widely shared without any credit to either the person that penned the words or whoever did the layout. In fact…
I Love Edale at this time of year. The colours are wonderful, the sun low in the sky makes everything look wonderful and sunrise is late enough for me to see it. Better still when you go for a walk or morning run up the hill there are hardly any tourists about, this morning I had all this…
After attending the international folk crafts expo in China delegates were treated to a trip out to sample some of the local culture. I was a bit surprised to find we needed a doctor and a policeman on our bus. Thankfully the doctor was not needed but the policeman had a lot of work. Whenever we hit a traffic jam…
