Spoonfest has everything that any spoon carver could ever desire: masses of green wood, lots of sharp tools to try out for free, the best carvers in the world doing free demonstrations and paid workshops, campfires, the spoon gallery full of inspiration, Spoonshop for spoons, tools and T shirts, camping on site, local beer sold for charity, a wood fired pizza oven, all this with a wonderful festival atmosphere in the heart of the Peak District countryside.
Spoonfest line-up
Workshops are 2 hours long and cost £20 each paid direct to the tutor and can not be booked in advance. They have to be booked when SPOONSHOP opens in the morning which means if you desperately want to do a particular workshop you need to get in the queue early.
On the Friday there will be lots of beginners classes focussing on the techniques of using axes and knives and discussions about timber. On Saturday and Sunday there will be more intermediate and advanced classes. Some workshops will be repeated Saturday and Sunday so if you miss out Saturday you may get a second chance to book early Sunday.
The Spoonfest line-up is getting too numerous to list but here’s an intro to many of the spoon carvers you might find sharing their skills with you at Spoonfest 2023!
Adam Ashworth & Oscar Rush
Oscar and Adam are full time blacksmiths and makers of green woodworking tools. They will be running classes in knife making, and doing ‘have a go’s for people who just want to try blacksmithing. They will also be demonstrating adze making.
Alan Mitchell
Alan is also known as Alien Spoons. Alan generally always uses small round wood for his spoons which reduces waste and the time required to axe out a blank. Alan will be teaching efficient knife techniques, beginners classes, and “2 hours, ten spoons” – a systematic process to make a load of blanks from small round wood efficiently.
Anna Casserley
Anna has been involved in craft all her life, growing up as the daughter of two potters and with a master woodcarver grandfather. She carves beautiful and functional spoons and scoops from timber sourced sustainably from her native Gloucestershire.
“Like my parents, I take great delight in making beautiful objects that people love and use every day.”
Amy Leake
I’ve been hooked on green woodworking since 2011 when I first became enthralled by the possibilities of working with raw wood to create humble functional objects. I’ve gained a huge amount from attending every Spoonfest since it’s inception, and am excited to be able to share my knowledge with others.
Amy will be teaching beginners classes, how to logically and efficiently axe spoon blanks, and milk paint tips and tricks.
Dan’s Fine Art background has resulted in a creative and playful exploration of woodcarving with a unique style.
A full time spoon carver/ greenwood worker since 2014 has enabled a fascination with ergonomics, form and function to play a big roll.
Musician’s learn covers for an understanding of techniques and styles, with a similar approach to spoons, making copy’s and mimics of other makers spoons enabled me to discover in 3 dimensions my like’s and dislike’s about a variety of spoons.
Dave Cockcroft (aka @davethebodger) is a chair maker, spoon carver and teacher. He also makes small sloyd finishing knives from Hewn and Hone blanks. Dave’s workshops will focus on two different styles of spoon – Cawl and Dolphin, with a focus on learning about the shape and axing out suitable blanks.
Dave will be doing a demo on ebonising, and the use of milk paint.
Having originally trained in fine art Deborah became addicted to spoon carving ( she’s a spoon a day type!) after a long career as an artist/teacher and a writer of craft books.
She is known for investigating and carving a large variety of different wood species and has even realised that a lovely piece of wood can do more than anything to cheer you up! She has a lifelong interest in the value and meaning of making and its therapeutic and transformational aspects.
Deborah will be teaching how to make a pocket spoon.
Her practice stresses the importance of drawing (without a template) as a way of developing imagination and enhancing perception. She will also emphasize learning to use tools confidently (safely) to make a better spoon!
Harald Lamon
I love trees and wood and I’m living my dream of making and teaching what I love doing every day.
I have a small shop in Bruges, Belgium and a woodland workshop nearby where I do most of my teachings in greenwood working. I run a spoonclub in Bruges (always welcome!) and we have our own little spoonfest in september. I’m honourd to come over and be a member of spoonfest!
Harry Samuel is a full time wood worker and passionate about working specifically with green wood. He trained with Barnaby Carder and continues to work with The Green Wood Guild in Bristol. He also completed a year-long apprenticeship at Cherry Wood Project. He now operates from his workshop in Frome where he makes products to order, teaches workshops around the UK and continues to develop his craft.
Harry’s knife & axe workshops for kids have become a key feature of the course programme and will make a return this year, perhaps along with some beginner’s knife workshops for adults.
Jan Harm is a spooncarver and product designer/teacher from the Netherlands. He picked up spoon carving as a design activity in 2004, looking for a simple and direct approach to design humble products that matter for people, both in a visual- and ergonomical aspect. Being a student in one of Wille Sundqvist’s last workshops in Sweden influenced his style and view about spoons and teaching.
At this year’s Spoonfest Jan Harm will be teaching his way of carving ‘Kåsor’ (‘Kuksa’s’) by making ‘minimugs’, as well as eating spoon anatomy with axe and knife, and probably little scoops! He’s also planning a lecture on ‘Spoon Aesthetics & Visual Vocabulary’.
Karel will be teaching Finger Spoons – a fantastic in-the-jar thing for spices enthusiasts. There will be a chance to make few different sizes. A fine nimble grips practice.
He will also teach Bloom Bowl workshop – how to carve a small wide-faceted bowl. Somewhat different woodcarving techniques, especially when it comes to axework.
He will also teach natural Edge Long Scoops workshop focuses on natural decoration of long scoops’ handles. It is a creative and playful workshop that uncovers some of the most wonderful designs you can get in the wood.
Lee John Phillips
Lee John Phillips is an award winning freelance illustrator and designer from Pembrokeshire, West Wales. With 17 years in creative education, he has recently relinquished institutional posts to focus on teaching green woodwork and craft independently.
He is an avid sketchbook keeper, and for the past 9 years he has been drawing and cataloguing the entire contents of his late grandfather’s toolshed. To date he has drawn over 8,500 items and estimates this to be a fraction of the total. He sees it as his life’s work.
Lee predominately carves small pocket spoons that are decorated in various ways and he sees these talisman-like forms as a delicate cross over of functional utensil and contemporary sculpture.
Lee will be teaching the fundamentals of creative spoon design, emphasising the importance of drawing in the development of ideas. He will also be delivering introductory sessions on chip carving focusing on how these techniques can be combined with ink for spoon decoration.
Martin Hazell
Martin Hazell began carving spoons almost by accident about 25 years ago and he’s not planning to stop anytime soon. He specialises in carving scoops and working with unusual woods, particularly burr.
MaxNeukäufler
“Being fascinated about blades and exotic cultures, I originally got into Spooncarving because I wanted to use the tools I had collected by my early 20s.
Traveling to all corners of the world to study martial arts, forge and do backcountry guiding, I started to pick up overlapping principles, both mental and physical. I made it my mission statement to integrate them, to form a save, bold, learning oriented system that allows anybody to let their creativity flow without limits.
On the practical side of things I got to make and design some of the more popular tools on the market based on my goal to teach every student to get to know their tools intimately and use them to their full potential.
I teach Spooncarving like I teach grappling, canoeing or archery. Systematic, principle based, bold, physical and with a steep, continuing learning curve.
I’m stoked to be able to share over a dozen years of worldwide Spooncarving with you!”
Spoon carving for me is a window into the life I want to live and seems like the life most people would like to have, and over the past decade i have explored the functional art of carving spoons and lately I have been introduced into the world of pole lathe turning.
I have been teaching for about four years and now I teach full time in the Center for Woodland Craft, Tzivon Israel. I love teaching and having the opportunity to ignite the spark of craft among beginners- people who have yet to discover the magic of fresh wood and sharp tools.
“Carving has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, filling that urge to create something. I get my inspiration from my surroundings, putting chickens, snails, frogs on my work as little reminders of nature’s beauty. I live on a small farm in the center of Israel where I teach spoon carving classes and trying to spread this rewarding craft.”
Paul was introduced to spoon carving during a course studying bushcraft in 2004. Due to the ease of carving at home while raising a young family, spoon carving was one of the skills regularly practised. Working in Arboriculture for twenty years has led to many interesting pieces of wood being saved, brought home, and carved into all sorts of objects for the home and outdoors life he enjoys.
“Do you struggle with sharpening? I certainly did. I wished that someone had taught me from the beginning with sharpening theory, for example: what bevel angles are, and then how to achieve the correct angle for the tool being sharpened. I got snippets of well-intended advice but it was often contradictory and never shown with a practical hands-on demonstration. Decades later having experienced sharpening possibly all types of edge-cutting tools, and from teaching sharpening to edge-tool users, I have honed my skills and can explain the theory of sharpening and how to sharpen well.”
Tom got started in green woodwork as an apprentice with Barn the Spoon. Moving away from a career in video production he went in search of more beauty & meaning in his work. After helping to establish The Green Wood Guild in London, Tom became focused on sharing his love of craft and traditional wood culture with others.
At Spoonfest this year Tom will be teaching workshops on beginner’s knife skills, and taking the next steps with your axe work.
Yoav Elkayam “I have been introduced to spoon carving and greenwood working almost 10 years ago while visiting friends in the UK, and got inspired to take it to the next step and my full day occupation after attending Spoonfest 2014 . Having been working as a full time maker and instructor for the past 7 years, between craftsmen I met along the way in order to improve my skills and eye for details & live closer to the trees and nature.
Workshops are 2 hours long and cost £20 each paid direct to the tutor and can not be booked in advance. They have to be booked when SPOONSHOP opens in the morning which means if you desperately want to do a particular workshop you need to get in the queue early.
On the Friday there will be lots of beginners classes focussing on the techniques of using axes and knives and discussions about timber. On Saturday and Sunday there will be more intermediate and advanced classes. Some workshops will be repeated Saturday and Sunday so if you miss out Saturday you may get a second chance to book early Sunday.
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