Project Information
I usually like to gather up several spoons before making a post… but my wife and I will be traveling overseas (Philippines) for the next couple of weeks… so I thought I would go ahead and tie up the loose ends.
The first spoon showing I call 'Blanco' for obvious reasons. A lady from Tennessee sent me some wood which I culled the bowl from. It was going to be a regular sort of spoon but the wood was so dang hard I gave up and cut the handle off. Oak or hickory …. but hard, whatever it is.
Another lady sent me some wood from Texas which had some mesquite. One piece had this vine twisted around it and I thought to make a bowl out of the mesquite but it was just plain full of larvae. So I took the bowl from TN and matched it with the vine from TX.
It was an interesting moment that occurred when I was about half way done sanding the bark off the vine. I stopped to wipe the dust from my eyes and that is when the thought occurred to me…. "I hope this isn't poison ivy!" I guess it wasn't. After sanding, I just painted the vine white with acrylics with an additive to make it more matte.
When I cut into the second spoon there was this evil eye staring back at me. It reminded me of the Eye of Sauron from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Since this piece of boxwood (collected in Miami) was already destined to become a sauce spoon, I named it 'Eye of Sauce-ron'.
The 'Rhino' is from a piece of maple. It balances quite nicely on its front legs (ok… its only legs). The horns are deer antler tips (also from the TX lady). I used little seed beads for the eyes (beady eyes). It turned out being fairly comfortable to hold in the hand.
This next spoon is simple and small from a piece of wild apple. I was going to inlay an apple seed into the handle but all of the apples I bought have light colored, anemic looking seeds.
I bought a small piece of mesquite burl on ebay (no one bid against me) an it was full of larvae as well. I do my carving in the alleyway and when I would run into another larva I would take the air canister and blow him out of the hole. The lizards would run up under my feet to grab these things.
I like this wood though (without the worms) as it cut and sanded fairly easy. I like the contrast of the sapwood with the dark…. but the worm holes (and that 'stuff' left behind) detract from the spoon.
This next spoon is from the weeping beech tree at Bernheim Forest (KY) and I was just in the mood to try and get one more spoon from that wood. It had a rotted place right down the middle so I just tried to go around it.
Pulling into the alley one day after a hard rain, I saw this weathered piece of wood. I really liked the texture but the wood inside turned out to be pretty nondescript. One of those 'rescue' spoons.
This is another piece of wood that was sent to me from out west. It seems to be either cedar or juniper… something like that. This was a root and the growth circles were really close together. It had a really nice texture and color.
In the Philippines, the two most 'important' foods are rice and fish. I wanted to take along a spoon for my wife's sister and sister-in-laws… so I wed the two and quickly made up some rice spoons with a fish motif. Apple and walnut. My woodburning 'skills' need a bit of work.
This last spoon I actually made several months ago…. maybe a year. Carved in ebony or blackwood the thing would just roll over when I set it down. That bugged me for a long time…. and I kept thinking I wish I could find one of those little metal 'museum' wire stands to hold it upright. Then I thought I would make one with acrylic… but lazy won out and that never happened.
So I saw some tiny wires in the tool box and took out my German micro-bits and drilled holes for the copper and aluminum wires. I had this piece of Amboyna sitting there so I did my best to carve a recess for the rounded spoon bowl. I call it 'Black Micro-dot'.... maybe as flashback to younger and more daring days.
Well… I think that's it. As always…. Thanks for having a look.
The first spoon showing I call 'Blanco' for obvious reasons. A lady from Tennessee sent me some wood which I culled the bowl from. It was going to be a regular sort of spoon but the wood was so dang hard I gave up and cut the handle off. Oak or hickory …. but hard, whatever it is.
Another lady sent me some wood from Texas which had some mesquite. One piece had this vine twisted around it and I thought to make a bowl out of the mesquite but it was just plain full of larvae. So I took the bowl from TN and matched it with the vine from TX.
It was an interesting moment that occurred when I was about half way done sanding the bark off the vine. I stopped to wipe the dust from my eyes and that is when the thought occurred to me…. "I hope this isn't poison ivy!" I guess it wasn't. After sanding, I just painted the vine white with acrylics with an additive to make it more matte.
When I cut into the second spoon there was this evil eye staring back at me. It reminded me of the Eye of Sauron from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Since this piece of boxwood (collected in Miami) was already destined to become a sauce spoon, I named it 'Eye of Sauce-ron'.
The 'Rhino' is from a piece of maple. It balances quite nicely on its front legs (ok… its only legs). The horns are deer antler tips (also from the TX lady). I used little seed beads for the eyes (beady eyes). It turned out being fairly comfortable to hold in the hand.
This next spoon is simple and small from a piece of wild apple. I was going to inlay an apple seed into the handle but all of the apples I bought have light colored, anemic looking seeds.
I bought a small piece of mesquite burl on ebay (no one bid against me) an it was full of larvae as well. I do my carving in the alleyway and when I would run into another larva I would take the air canister and blow him out of the hole. The lizards would run up under my feet to grab these things.
I like this wood though (without the worms) as it cut and sanded fairly easy. I like the contrast of the sapwood with the dark…. but the worm holes (and that 'stuff' left behind) detract from the spoon.
This next spoon is from the weeping beech tree at Bernheim Forest (KY) and I was just in the mood to try and get one more spoon from that wood. It had a rotted place right down the middle so I just tried to go around it.
Pulling into the alley one day after a hard rain, I saw this weathered piece of wood. I really liked the texture but the wood inside turned out to be pretty nondescript. One of those 'rescue' spoons.
This is another piece of wood that was sent to me from out west. It seems to be either cedar or juniper… something like that. This was a root and the growth circles were really close together. It had a really nice texture and color.
In the Philippines, the two most 'important' foods are rice and fish. I wanted to take along a spoon for my wife's sister and sister-in-laws… so I wed the two and quickly made up some rice spoons with a fish motif. Apple and walnut. My woodburning 'skills' need a bit of work.
This last spoon I actually made several months ago…. maybe a year. Carved in ebony or blackwood the thing would just roll over when I set it down. That bugged me for a long time…. and I kept thinking I wish I could find one of those little metal 'museum' wire stands to hold it upright. Then I thought I would make one with acrylic… but lazy won out and that never happened.
So I saw some tiny wires in the tool box and took out my German micro-bits and drilled holes for the copper and aluminum wires. I had this piece of Amboyna sitting there so I did my best to carve a recess for the rounded spoon bowl. I call it 'Black Micro-dot'.... maybe as flashback to younger and more daring days.
Well… I think that's it. As always…. Thanks for having a look.