SPOONFEST 2024 1st – 4th August
Workshops are 2 hours long and cost £20 each paid direct to the tutor and can not be booked in advance. Bookings for each day open at 9 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 2024! More updates to follow!
Adam Ashworth
Adam is a full time blacksmith and maker of green woodworking tools. He will be running classes in knife making. The course will cover the fundamentals of knife forging and theory. Starting with bar stock, you will forge tang and the blade, covering the basics of blacksmithing. Then you will grind it to shape. Adam will then take them home to heat treat (This part is very difficult to do well out of the workshop) and grind them to razor sharp and then post them back to you.
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 beginners workshops, how to make a mushroom shaped scoop that is an ornament and a scoop, and controlled knife cuts to make wooden flowers.
Alex Finberg
Alex is a spoon carver based in South Devon, he teaches a range of abilities and ages and is passionate about providing access to spoon carving for improving mental health and wellbeing.
Alex will be teaching workshops on carving Ramen Spoons, 20 Minute Cooking Spoons, and a range of beginner classes. He will also be holding a talk and Q&A on Spoon Carving for Wellbeing.
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, and ‘symmetrical spoons’.
Andreea Grad
Originally from Transylvania, Andreea started spoon carving in 2020, while living in the US, and quickly fell in love with it. Over more than 800 spoons, including a year-long project, she’s been exploring various wood essences, shapes and styles, from traditional to modern, along with different decorating techniques.
Andreea has taught at numerous international festivals over the last two years, and she brings all her knowledge, experience, and heart to her teaching. You can see more of her work at ponderandspoon.com or follow her on instagram @andreeagrad
Andreea is teaching at pre-fest this year
Anja Sundberg
The woodwork of Anja Sundberg is a complete breath of fresh air, her often playful ideas are executed with an eye for detail that just brings everything to life, Anja learnt slöjd at the premier craft school, Sätergläntan, and has become one of Sweden’s most talented woodworkers well known amongst the slöjd field for her technical abilities, as well as being a very experienced teacher.
Anja is teaching at pre-fest this year
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. Based in rural Gloucestershire, Anna Casserley carves functional, joyful forms that speak to the root of cooking, food preparation and the universality of the most ancient experience; the making and sharing of food with those we love.
“Like my parents, I take great delight in making beautiful objects that people love and use every day.”
Anna is teaching at pre-fest this year
Dave Cockcroft
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 – Dolphin and teaspoons, with a focus on learning about the shape and axing out suitable blanks.
Dave will be doing a sharpening demo, explaining a simple approach to keeping tools sharp and show the cheap sharpening kit he carries in my tool bag.
Deborah Schneebeli Morrell
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 safe and effective axe work, and how to draw without a template 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
Harald will be back this year teaching a variety of classes including efficient and fast axing, feather spoons & smooth finishing with knife & spoon knife
“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
Harry (@sparry_hoons) has been a green woodworker and land worker for over a decade. He completed an apprenticeship with Barn the Spoon and at the Cherry Wood Project. He was a founding member of the Greenwood Guild in London and taught woodland crafts at Ruskin Mill College. Harry has a passion for passing on rural skills to people of all ages and abilities.
Karel Hekrle
“I am happy to join Spoonfest this year to bring a little piece of knowledge to share again and teach several workshops. Having experienced long years of using the axe daily I want to promote it’s both sides – raw effectivity and delicate precision when skillfuly handled. Uncover the beauty of the underbark textures that i often welcome as a part of the design. And give some ideas on carving long handled spoons and scoops.
I like the contact with nature, it inspires me in its changes and I want to cherish the real impression from “living” wood in its pure beauty.”
Jan Harm Ter Brugge
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’.
Jan Harm is teaching at pre-fest this year
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.
Lieuwe Jongsma
Lieuwe will be returning this year and teaching beginner straight and hook knife classes, an advanced teaspoon class (8 tea spoons from one piece of branch) and a “high heel scoop” class.
Maryanne McGinn
Maryanne is back this year, teaching how to axe out a spoon blank with emphasis on the profile, and learn where to position your crank before working on the spoon shape. You will use axe and knife and produce spoon blanks ready for carving your favourite spoon. She’ll also show how to introduce depth in your handles by creating layers of carving.
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. Martin will be teaching how to carve a “Traditional Curvaceous Flour Scoop” in Hazel, and how to carve a traditional devon cream spoon in sycamore.
He will also be doing a demo on ‘Horn, Bone and Antler in Spoons’ and ‘Spoons of Welcome: Toddy ladles and Sherbet Spoons’.
Max Neukäufler
“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!”
Oren Hetzroni
“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.”
Oren will be teaching chicken scoops, snail spoons & creature cups.
Owen Thomas
We’re delighted to welcome Owen Thomas back to Spoonfest this year.
Owen is an internationally recognised maker and teacher who specialises in Pole Lathe turning and spoon carving.
Owen has taught green woodwork for over 10 years both at his workshop and events in the UK, and also internationally. In 2022, he travelled to teach at the renowned craft school Saterglanten in Sweden where he was awarded the Sundqvist / Coperthwaite Slojd Fellowship by Jogge Sundqvist.
He also works extensively with organisations in Herefordshire to teach skills to individuals with mental health issues, neurodivergent people and individuals with learning difficulties.
Owen aims to create beautiful but functional items for people to use and to be an advocate for the further development of green woodwork and slojd.
He will be teaching workshops on how to carve welsh vernacular spoons such as Cawl spoons and dolphin spoons.
Paul Adamson
Paul will be returning to Spoonfest this year to teach you how to “Carve a Jar Spoon” – A nice simple design of spoon great for stirring drinks and sauces, and for getting produce out of the bottom of jars and tins.
As well as – “Carve a cooking spoon” – A slightly larger spoon design with a little crank added. Perfect for general cooking but also serving up food to the plate when a large ladle or dedicated serving spoon isn’t needed. Handy if you don’t like washing up more than needed.
He will also be demoing how to hollow a kuksa.
Sean Hellman
“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.”
Sean is teaching at pre-fest this year
website | instagram | facebook
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 8 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.