I took this picture at the kitchen table of my spooncarver
friend, Tom Dengler. One is by Ville Sundquist, a couple by myself,
and the rest by Tom. If you have never eaten with wood spoons
notice how new these tools-of-eating look, yet they get hard everyday
service. They get more polished and fine with use, not the other
way around. Nothing could be more delightful to eat at every meal
with. This is the rich tradition of northern Sweden, that I hope
to pass along here.
The first (smallest) is by an old carver in the South
of Sweden. The rest are the spoons my wife and I use every day.The
2 center ones show the decorative art of kolrosing shown elsewhere
in this website. The new white one is birch, and hasn't been oiled
yet. The oil is edible flax seed oil. Soak for 3 days, dry for
a few months, and it becomes polymerized inside the wood, making
it nearly impervious to food stains and normal hot soapy water
of dishwashing. Of course don't ever put one in a dishwasher...the
heat and steam will drive water into them.
Spoon of cow horn
Ladle, coffee scoop, serving spoon - carved by Tom
Dengler
Closeup of above coffee scoop, by carving a vrill (an
eyeless burl) one can folow the fibers so that there is virtually
no end grain, thus it is very strong, yet thin. This was done
partially by the amazing technique of northern Sweden of grabbing
fibers with a pair of pliers, pulling, and the resultant form
can be one fiber thick!
Eating spoon by Ville Sundquist
Spoon by Tom's uncle, Uwe Molzen, in Denmark
A Lithuanian serving spoon, using the bark as a decorative
detail and handle
These beautiful spreaders (above) are by Barry Gordon,
be sure to check out his spoon carving web site (see links page).
The 2 photos below are pieces by Jon Strom of Minnesota
Check back, I'll be adding more spoons, be sure to
look under the Links page, has many spooncarver's websites with
pictures to inspire.
