KuksaCamp. A brief overview.

We've been busy here at Spoon Camp.

The sun has been shining and we've had a steady stream of wonderful students.

We will be striking camp the week after next when we'll be moving up to Scotland and the Scottish Crannog Centre.

I will be available for spoon carving courses at the Crannog on the 29th 30th 31st July 1st August and the 6th August. Contact the Crannog or email me at jonmacbookings@gmail.com to secure your place. 

A one day spooncarving course will cost £80 per day.

See you there... J

Pete gets acquainted with Kuksa carving.

Sarah and I will be back in the Shire and available for courses around the 1st September.

Drop me a line at jonmacbookings@gmail.com with your available dates and we'll make sure to adapt a course to your liking. 

Jon Mac demonstrates a spot of chip carving.

Rebornferal (Martin) carves at Spoon Camp.

Martin (rebornferal) starts his knife work.

A photograph Martin took of my working knives.

Top to bottom.

My MiniMac carver.

My Typhoon Bushcraft knife.

A utility/splitting knife.

My favourite camp knife and food prep knife, the Macro.

And finally, the Grandfather MaChris bushcraft/carver.

Jon Mac's carving and camp knives.

 This wee lightweight Axe made by James Wood was a pleasure to use.

Go visit his web site to find his stock line.

https://www.jameswoodblacksmith.co.uk/products

Jon Mac using a James Wood Axe.

Spoon/Kuksa Camp.

Lunch at KuksaCamp.

Jon Mac hollows out a Kuksa at KuksaCamp.

Martin chip carves his new Kuksa.

Nic Westermann detail knife.

Jon Mac's stock at Spoon Camp.

 Linda came all the way from New Zealand.

She's an accomplished beginner and thoroughly enjoyed her course. 

Linda and I stop for a brew.

Splitting with a froe.

Hollowing out a Kuksa with a hook knife.

I've gone and snapped my beetle.

Peter hard at it.

 Martin is a skilled Bushcrafter who goes by the monica ( rebornferel ) on Instagram.

What an enthusiastic young man !

Martin gets in close whilst finishing his Kuksa.

 Martin took a photograph of my very first Kuksa alongside my latest.

I think I'm making positive strides.

My first and latest Kuksa.

 Peter is a Forest School instructor and decided to spend longer with me than he originally planned.

We carved Kuksa and spoon, we also touched on the sharpening aspect of carving.

Jon Mac and Peter discuss Kuksa shapes.

 Our Tentipi and Canvas Camp shelter here in the Shire.

We try and make the orchard as welcoming as possible.

We can accommodate a small group of camping carvers here. We'll even lend you our older tipi.

Kuksa/spoonCamp.

 Mish and Derek.

What fun characters these two were.

We have two new friends .

Mish and Derek show off their newly carved spoons.

Mish and Derek with Jon Mac.

Martin hard at work.

Don't forget to email me if you wish to learn more about spoon and Kuksa carving.

Enjoy... J

Jon Mac's spoon carving movie.

We've been busy here at Spoon Camp.

The sun has been shining and we've had a steady stream of wonderful students.
This movie was shot by Mish and Derek, my most recent visitors, whilst I showed them the stages of spooncarving before I let them loose on some green Birch.

We will be striking camp the week after next when we'll be moving up to Scotland and the Scottish Crannog Centre.

 I will be available for spoon carving courses at the Crannog on the 29th 30th 31st July 1st August and the 6th August. Contact the Crannog or email me at jonmacbookings@gmail.com to secure your place. 

A one day spooncarving course will cost £80 per day.

See you there... J

Kuksa-Camp !

I recently took bookings for one to one carving tuition here at Kuksa-Camp.

To be honest, we had a Spoon-Camp too.

Spoon/Kuksa Camp in the Shire.

We set up camp for two students, one of whom contacted me as she was visiting from New Zealand.

We've had a great time carving and teaching, we also had time to shake down some of our equipment well be packing for our tenure at the 

Scottish Crannog Centre.

Jon Mac. Spoon carving camp.

Sarah and I will be at the Crannog from Monday 29th July to Tuesday 6th August.

I will be demonstrating the fine art of spoon carving over the course of the 'Celts are coming' event, Friday 2nd August - Monday 5th August and I am available for courses at all other times. Contact the Crannog or email me at

jonmacbookings@gmail.com 

for further details.

Getting to grips with Kuksa hollowing.

Sarah Mac will be on hand to demonstrate her super skills in the art of wool felting and natural dyeing. She's a mine of information.

One of our students, Peter, from Preston, spent three days with us learning Kuksa and spoon carving techniques using only Axe, knife and hook knife.

We also lightly touched on the aspects of achieving a fine carving edge on ones knife.

Peter goes through the motions of knife sharpening.

The hook knife is central to my freestyle form of Kuksa and spoon carving.

Such a simple looking tool that one would imagine its use as minimal.

After some many years of using one I have managed to wring pretty much every advantage there is to its use whilst Kuksa carving.

I always try my hardest to pass these skills to my students.

Hollowing a Kuksa with Peter.

Peter successfully hollowing his Kuksa with a hook knife.

Kuksa carvers are go!

Spooncarving class begins.

Sarah and I are gradually establishing the camp to include a limited space for students to camp over for weekend classes, we have a spare Tipi for your use and there is space for perhaps three normal sized tents.

Sarah and Jon Mac.

Working under the shade of a CanvasCamp tarp.

The aftermath of a Kuksa carve.

Peter and his Kuksa.

Peter gets to grips with his spoon carve.

Peters newly carved spoon.

Spoon carving.

 We had a super sunny day with Linda who traveled all the way from NZ.

She wanted to learn how I went about carving my freehand spoons.

We had a good time and lots of laughs. She returned with her partner a day or so later and took me up to the local and bought me a pint or two. 

Thanks Linda!

Linda and I enjoy a cuppa at spoonCamp.

Linda carving her spoon.

Linda's newly carved spoon.

Left to Right, Lindas spoon, one of my spoons and the spoon I carved as a demonstration.

Prepairing the timber.

 If you wish to join me here in the Devon countryside have a look at the timetable I have posted in my previous posts, pick a day or weekend and if possible I will change the course heading to suit your requirements.

Drop me an email at jonmacbookings@gmail for further information.

Jon Mac.

 Cheers for now.

Enjoy.

J.

A Kuksa carving spring.

Tentipi and Dragon Kuksa.

Spring has finally arrived here in the Shire, although the temperatures a still struggling to reach mid teens. Sarah and I managed to find time for some walks earlier on in the season and we were treated to some beautiful days on Dartmoor, bright but windy and chilly. Below are some photos of one memorable morning on a walk out from Holming beam, Dartmoor.

Longaford Tor.

Purple moor grass.

Wistmans wood from the Beardown Tor's.

It looks as if we might be warming up here this morning. The Northerly wind which has been a feature here for the last few months has finally disappeared leaving us with a few frost and wind damaged plants, but on the whole everything is fine.

Spring blooms.

Other than walking the Moors Sarah and I have been busy with our respective art forms.
Sarah has been busy making beautiful felt pots and tuffets.
 

Felt pots with hand carved fairy realm lids.

The tuffet is the fleece of a sheep processed in such a way that one side, the sheep side is careful felted into a strong matrix leaving the fluffy side well, fluffy and the sheep is still skipping through the Bluebells, minus her coat of course.

This one is over six feet long and I'll be using it as part of my bed roll whilst camping this year.

Woollen tuffet.

Jon Mac sat on his tuffet.

Sarah made this large long tuffet in one of our tipis.
It's a bit of a messy process to start with as the fleece is covered in all manor of unmentionables. It becomes cleaner and cleaner as Sarah works the felt.

Sarah Mac. Tuffet maker.

Whilst Sarah has been felting and dyeing wool I have run a few courses here in the orchard and over at Yarner wood, Dartmoor. The Yarner wood class usually takes place over the winter. We will be shuffling things about a little for this winter, 2019 and inviting members of the public to become involved in some way. 

Spoon carving students at Yarner wood.

Sarah and I usually start the year off with a day at the 'Timber' event run by the Woodland Trust.

The event is small but usually well attended and this year was no exception.

We demonstrate and field questions regarding our folk art.

An early spring show for Yarner.

The weather cheered a little for our first Kuksa carving course. Three very motivated individuals took part and had a super weekend carving Kuksa. None of them had and experience with Axe, knife and hook knife, however they all made very tidy Kuksa to take home.

I was a little ill with a cold and forgot to photograph their finished work.

Kuksa carving course

This is a photograph at the end of day one. I have to say they managed a fine job.

Students half finished Kuksa.

We set the camp up and settled in with a fire pit to keep warm.

Kuksa carving central.

Sarah and I have just returned from another really cosy family oriented show, 'The Spring Festival' where we experienced a beautiful warm day with lots of interested people paying a visit.

Jon Mac.

We are looking forward to welcoming some folks who have booked with us for spoon and Kuksa courses in the coming weeks. I can't wait to get the camp sorted and sharpen up the carving tools.

Tentipi at Kuksa carving camp.

I found at our recent shows that some folk were flabbergasted that a spoon or Kuksa started life hidden within a round of wood. Hopefully I did a good job of showing them the way to release the spoon. As you know, I use three main Bushcraft tools for my folk art, Axe, knife and Hook knife. My carving style is, to say the least, nomadic.

Round mouth being carved (Kuksa).

Round mouthed Dragon Kuksa.

Round mouthed Dragon Kuksa with milk paint, almost finished.

Fully completed round mouthed Dragon Kuksa.

I recently adapted the mouth shape so as to carve it without using a gouge.

Undecorated Kuksa dragon head

I use decorative techniques from my earlier carving work including a little stab kolrossing.

Stab kolrossling.

Chip carving.

If you bind the end of your large carving knife with leather leaving just the tip showing, you can use it to decorate your own work. I recently bought a wee blade from Nic Westermann for this job.

Relief carving the fiery flame.

I have also started to explore the use of gilding to decorate my fiery Dragons. After all, Dragons love gold. but not too much, it's easy to gild the lilly.

I also utilise the patented 'Pokey thing' once the gold leaf appears.

Pokey thing.

When I teach Kuksa carving I usually ask my students to follow me and carve a simple design as shown below. From this design one can extrapolate from its basic shape and add an imaginative handle shape. I'm hoping to sit with a student soon who I'm hoping will spend a little more time with me at the orchard to work on the dragon head.

Simple Kuksa design.

I have set out a set of dates when I will run spoon or Kuksa carving courses. You'll find the dates in an earlier post or for the eagle eyed you'll find course dates on the right hand side of this blogs main page. If you have an inkling to join me, select a date and give me an email at jonmacbookings@gmail.com I will adapt the printed schedule to fit your requirements.

Dragon Kuksa.

 If you'd like to spend time here with me in Devon you are welcome to arrive on a Friday, daytime or evening and camp either in one of my tipi or your own tent for the weekend at no extra cost.

In fact I've managed to lift the dates and they show at the bottom of this blog entry.

Dragon Kuksa.

We'll even sort out a stove for you and a wee paraffin lamp to light your way.

Feuerhand lamp.

Tentipi.

These dates are adaptable to suit your needs.

Contact me via jonmacbookings@gmail.com

August - Date and time Venue Price and Booking October 2019 information
DemonstrationSpoon Carving with Jon Mac WILDERNESS GATHERING 2019	15th - 18th August	Bush Farm Bison Centre West Knoyle Wiltshire BA12 6AE	WILDERNESS GATHERING 2019 A Festival Of Bushcraft & Music, Wild Camping & Open Fires. www.wilderness gathering.co.uk Come and meet Jon, as he demonstrates carving at this exciting festival.
Spoon Carving with Jon Mac	Saturday 7th September OR Sunday 8th September 10:00 - 17:00	Torbryan, Devon	£80 Book on line at Follow the link on Jon’s website www.spooncarvi ngfirststeps.com
Spoon Carving with Jon Mac	Saturday 14th September OR Sunday 15th September 10:00 - 17:00	Torbryan, Devon	£80 Book on line at Follow the link on Jon’s website www.spooncarvi ngfirststeps.com
Spoon Carving with Jon Mac	Saturday 21st OR Sunday 22nd September 10:00 - 17:00	Torbryan, Devon	£80 Book on line at Follow the link on Jon’s website www.spooncarvi ngfirststeps.com
Spoon Carving with Jon Mac	Saturday 28th OR Sunday 29th September 10:00 - 17:00	Torbryan, Devon	£80 Book on line at Follow the link on Jon’s website www.spooncarvi ngfirststeps.com
Spoon Carving with Jon Mac	Saturday 5th OR Sunday 6th October 10:00 - 17:00	Torbryan, Devon	£80 Book on line at Follow the link on Jon’s website www.spooncarvi ngfirststeps.com
Spoon Carving with Jon Mac	Saturday 26th OR Sunday 27th October 10:00 - 17:00	Torbryan, Devon	£80 Book on line at Follow the link on Jon’s website www.spooncarvi ngfirststeps.com
	Contact Jon to discuss availability for his 2 day Kuksa carving courses.

April - August Date and time Venue 2019 Price and Booking Information
Kuksa Carving with Jon Mac 2 day course	Saturday 6th April AND Sunday 7th April 10:00 - 17:00	Torbryan, Devon	£160 Book on line at Follow the link on Jon’s website www.spooncarvingfir ststeps.com
Spoon Carving with Jon Mac	Saturday 4th May OR Sunday 5th May 10:00 - 17:00	Torbryan, Devon	£80 Book on line at Follow the link on Jon’s website www.spooncarvingfir ststeps.com
DemonstrationSpoon Carving with Jon Mac Yarner Wood, Spring Woodland Festival	Sunday 19th May 10:00 - 17:00	Yarner Wood Spring Woodland Festival	Yarner Wood, East Dartmoor NNR, Bovey Tracey, Devon TQ13 9LN
Spoon Carving with Jon Mac	Saturday 8th June OR Sunday 9th June 10:00 - 17:00	Torbryan, Devon	£80 Book on line at Follow the link on Jon’s website www.spooncarvingfir ststeps.com
Spoon Carving with Jon Mac	Saturday 15th June OR Sunday 16th June 10:00 - 17:00	Torbryan, Devon	£80 Book online at Follow the link on Jon’s website www.spooncarvingfir ststeps.com
Spoon Carving with Jon Mac	Saturday 22nd June OR Sunday 23rd June 10:00 - 17:00	Torbryan, Devon	£80 Book on line at Follow the link on Jon’s website www.spooncarvingfir ststeps.com
Spoon Carving with Jon Mac	Saturday 6th July OR Sunday 7th July 10:00 - 17:00	Torbryan, Devon	£80 Book on line at Follow the link on Jon’s website www.spooncarvingfir ststeps.com
Spoon Carving with Jon Mac	Saturday 13th July OR Sunday 14th July 10:00 - 17:00	Torbryan, Devon	£80 Book on line at Follow the link on Jon’s website www.spooncarvingfir ststeps.com
Spoon Carving with Jon Mac	One day courses from Monday 29th July to Thursday 1st August and Tuesday 6th August	The Scottish Crannog Centre Kenmore Loch Tay Aberfeldy Scotland PH15 2HY	£80 Booking via the Scottish Crannog Centre +44 (0) 1887 830583 info@crannog.co.uk www.crannog.co.uk
DemonstrationSpoon Carving with Jon Mac The Celts are Coming!	Friday 2nd August - Monday 5th August	The Scottish Crannog Centre Kenmore Loch Tay Aberfeldy Scotland PH15 2HY	The Celts are Coming! Come and meet Jon as he demonstrates at this wonderful event run by The Scottish Crannog Centre

See you all soon.

Thank you for popping by.

Jon Mac.