Jon Mac.Spoon Carving First Steps

Tuesday, 21 May 2019

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.

Folk Artist.

Photographer.

Jon has worked with his hands all his life. He has learnt many traditional working skills, from construction to carving beautiful wooden spoons and drinking vessels. He has spent much time on Dartmoor teaching outdoor pursuits, such as Ten Tors team training and working with private companies providing team building/survival resources. He is a retired member of Mountain Rescue and spent seven years on the active call out list with his local team.

( D.R.G.Ashburton).

He has spent many years exploring the Devon countryside perusing his other interest in photography, industrial archaeology and local history. He recently used his local knowledge and field craft skills to great advantage when acting as field assistant to researchers investigating bat habitats and behaviour here on Dartmoor.

Jon runs tailor made courses both here in Devon and occasionally in Scotland, for anyone interested in spoon carving and woodcraft skills. Using traditional hand tools, Axe, hook knife and knife, he teaches the techniques for the fast and safe removal of waste wood, shaping and designing. He also teaches how to attain a super sharp cutting edge with the use of Japanese water stones.These skills are key to making anything you wish out of wood.

He is also a knife designer and has had his designs fabricated by top blade smiths.

Jon believes passionately that the skills of both using and maintaining knife and axe blades are ones which need to be shared, in order that we do not loose these important techniques. Jon particularly enjoys sharing these skills with those who have little or no experience of using edge tools.