7th Irregular Spoon Gathering

I had the good fortune of attending the 7th Irregular Spoon Gathering last week, and it was an absolute blast.  Pat @klipnockywoods puts on a great time, and if you could not make it this year, I highly recommend you try next time around.  I met Pat in 2015, maybe 2013, at one of Oliver Prat's gatherings at his place in the Catskills.  Those were great events, full of creative inspiration and community, and thankfully Pat followed suit with his own gathering at his place in Arkport, NY.  I was unable to attend until now, and I am so glad I made it this time around.

Pat and Matt Fang @mattfang did a great job organizing the event.  Campers had fresh water, toilets, and all the walnut you could carve in a year.  The swimming hole was amazing, letting us rinse off the sweat and wood dust from the day.  Pat's wife and family also made about a million pizzas for the attendees on Saturday night, which were delicious.  I could go on and on.

And so many lovely folks.  (I am writing this part here mostly to remind myself of the connections I made.)  I got to reconnect with Pat, Oliver @oliverpratt_handcraft, Don @don.lalezyty.crafts, and Chuck Trella @chuck.trella_woodsmyths.  Don was about to depart for Sweden to teach some courses at other slöjd gatherings, like Taljfest. Chuck founded @riseupandcarve around 2019, and many of the people at the Gathering were RUAC folks.  We had a great conversation about the community building aspect of RUAC, how it cuts across geographic, political and religious divides to help heal a fractured world, and what future episodes might focus on.  I gotta think that RUAC drew some inspiration from those gatherings at Oliver's all those years ago.  Thanks for all your work, Chuck. 

I also made a lot of new friends.  I laughed until my sides hurt with Emily Rigby @emilierigby, maker of amazing feather spoons, and Ermin @erminelawrence, the recovering academic and gifted spoon carver.  I camped near Ryan @fireside.sloyd, Kyle @fullrangewood, and Joey @greatlakeswoodcraft, and they kindly welcomed me around their stove.  Martin @treenworks had the foresight to bring a lathe and tools, and was busy teaching Matt @mattfang and Canadian Steve @methodmodern how to turn (btw, they did great, both producing bowls far nicer than my first bowl!)  I turned a bit, trading one walnut bowl with Ryan for one of his amazing spoons.  I did have a little accident when the lathe upright suddenly snapped, but my cut finger was attended to by one of the participants (name?) who had decades of experience as a nurse.  The finger never got infected thanks to his superglue suture and is healing well.  And so many more conversations: with Cara @carabnr (who organized the Greenwood Wright's Fest this last April and another this October) about how we need to be taking more about warming up, stretching, and massage to keep us all healthy; with Chris of @weatfieldwoodcraft about the joys and challenges of teaching high school; with Steve @stevenantonucci on electric lathe turning.  And I wish I could have found more time to chat with Kate @mossywoodworkshop from the Pacific Northwest, who with Chuck provided much of the musical entertainment, Willow @willowqjones a homesteader from Alaska, spoon carver Rebecca @rebecca_luerssen, and Dominik from Germany #pogibua and Phil from England @phil_on_ruac who are on a east coast trip to visit with other carvers.  So many interesting and inspiring people.  

Oh, and who can forget the visit from the Slöjd Fairy?

The sloyd fairy made an appearance @mozzy_the_maker

Things got a little cold on the final night, so Cara covered Oliver's feet with wood shavings from the lathe.  "Surprisingly warm," Oliver declared.

And on the final morning, several young carvers came around the fire to work on their spoons.  This young person (daughter of Josh at @jgbklynarbor?) had a wonderful technique, using the instep of her sneakered foot as a work platform.  And look at those socks!

As with other gatherings, I always wish I had taken more photos.  Next time!

A few new spoon carvers

A few months ago several of my students asked if I could teach them to carve spoons, and with the summer here we found a day to sit down and carve.  We went over the basics of design, axing blanks, knife grips and the idea of "stops," and even a bit of chip carving.  It was a lot to fit into one day, but they were sponges and learned a ton.  Tentative in the morning, both were making bold cuts by the afternoon.  

As with all teaching, I learned a lot myself.  For example, I realized that busting open a round is not something everyone can do quickly or easily--luckily I had prepared some blanks ahead of time so we could keep the day moving. Also, grain direction is not something that everyone immediately understands.  Next time I should spend more time diagramming the direction of the cuts.  Finally, I was happy with their progress with knife grips.  Once a student understands the technique and how safe a grip is if done correctly, they feel more comfortable using their full force in the grip. Once that happens, they make progress in a hurry.  By the end of the day they both had made their first spoons.

Look at the pride on their faces!  Happy spoon parents.  They even gave them names.

Thanks for a great day!  Super proud of you and hope we can carve again soon.