It's Christening Time!!

One of the really fun things I get to do from time to time is to carve Christening spoons.  It's always such a happy time carving for proud parents who are positively bursting with pride and excitement AND for the beautiful baby who has a life of adventures and learning yet to come.

In the archived collections of some of the museums in Wales are some old 'feeding' spoons with curious bent handles, the bowls of which extend at an almost 90 degree angle to the handle.  It is thought this odd shape allowed the parent to feed a child seated in the lap and facing away from the parent without the parent having to reach around ... an ingenious innovation which also makes a lovely 'look' when carved on a spoon.

I like my Christening spoons to echo this tradition and so you'll notice most have the bent handle and protruding bowl.

As with lovespoons carved for weddings and anniversaries etc., there is lots of scope for design and personal statement.  This lovely little spoon is based on an ancient Celtic sketch of a lion embracing a closed or 'eternal' knot.  The closed knot is a symbol of eternity because it has no beginning or end (like the circle which became the model for the wedding ring).   I've included the unfinished version of this spoon as the lower section ultimately contained some details which I felt might be too personal to show the whole world.  But rest assured it was all very touching!!!

This one was particularly enjoyable!  A gift for a baby born to parents who love the ocean, diving and marine life, there was little doubt this spoon would have a nautical theme!  A happy leaping dolphin rises out of the waves holding a small banner with the birth details above a cascade of starfish and seashells.  The heart shaped bowl symbolizes the love the child will enjoy.  Its hard not to feel happiness when you look at this little spoon!!

A celebration of the birth of twins, this spoon is pretty unusual as far as spoons go.  Locating the bowl in the middle of the two handles symbolizes how the twins are 'the same but different'.  The parents were ecstatic at the birth of their little 'lambs' and so we chose to symbolize the twins through Celtic styled lambs born from the same origin.  I don't often locate the bowl in the middle of my spoons, but it sure works for this one!

This collection of tiny spoons was originally carved for a wedding where they were given as gifts to members of the wedding party, but everyone who has seen them also thought they would make lovely little Christening spoons.  They are certainly cheerful little spoons and the idea of 'growth' symbolized by the plant form is very apt as is the little heart-shaped bowl!

Although they aint silver, I think these little spoons are all much more valuable than any store bought metal spoon could ever be.  They're certainly more heart-felt!!

The Workbench

Where the magic happens

People often want to see my 'studio' and I think have a vision in their heads of a romantic wood panelled space where perhaps a coal fire glows merrily in the corner and a lazy cat lays on a blanket snoozing peacefully as the wood chips drift gently to the floor.

Alas, it isn't at all like that!  While I certainly have a space I am more than happy with.  It mostly all happens at this little table.  Its always a catastrophic mess and there's always too much piled on there, but it works for me.  Carving purists would no doubt be appalled at my lack of organization with tools strewn willy-nilly from breakfast to teacup, but as I say...it works for me!

The machine shop

I do a LOT of complicated Celtic knotwork and as much as I would love to sit and do it all by knife, I would never get any actually finished!  To deal with that issue, I step over to the 'machine shop' where my trusty Delta Q3 scroll saw takes a merciless and quite relentless beating for hours every day.  While I have access to some big gear like a table saw, jointer and bandsaw left over from my cabinetmaking days, I rarely use them and the old Q3 pulls most of the weight.

The finishing shop

The finishing shop resides on the counter right next to my carving table.  An old router table, it now is encrusted with a half-inch layer of dried penetrating oil, bits of dissolved sandpaper and a couple of batten sticks that are glogged down and will have to be pried of with a crow bar if I ever want to move them.  My finishing regimen is pretty basic, involving a couple of coats of oil, some wet and dry sanding, more oil and then a vigorous buffing followed by a nice finish coat of beeswax polish.  Simple but delightfully elegant....just like me!

The bench in action

Although it appears pretty haphazard and shockingly 'amateur', this is the workspace of a dedicated professional!!  Although it looks like the tools are chucked around willy-nilly, I take great care to make sure they never collide 'tip to tip' and I seldom have to do much repair work on damaged cutting edges.  I do tend to let things pile up a bit though and I probably should vacuum off the chips a bit more often than I do, but when I get my head down, housework is the last thing on my mind.

Anyway, that's the studio.

The Lovespoon Carver's Craft at St Fagans

Come and meet two of the finest lovespoon carvers currently promoting the craft across Wales and beyond. Siôn Llewellyn of Bridgend and David Western, originally from Cardiff and now living in Canada, are both passionate about their art and ensuring that an age-old tradition remains fresh and vibrant in modern-day life.

Siôn was recently commissioned by the Museum to create exact replicas of a number of spoons in the collections and these will be on sale during the event. David will be promoting his recent books, History of Lovespoons and Fine Art of Carving Lovespoonswhich prominently feature many of the spoons housed at St Fagans.

Call in to the Museum Shop to see them at work between 11-1 and 2-4pm at the National History Museum of Wales at St Fagans. (near Cardiff, Wales)

I'm VERY excited to be appearing with fellow carver Siôn Llewellyn at the museum which is home to one of the finest collections of lovespoons in the world, and I hope that if you are in the area on May 26th, you'll stop in to say hello!!