Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Since the 1960's, 'traditional' Welsh lovespoons have evolved a certain commercial style. Easy to mass produce but lacking in imagination and soul, they are the the double-edged sword of the spoon world. They are cheap enough that people will buy them and sort of keep a traditional token alive, but they are so lacking in any of the spirit and passion of an actual traditional spoon that they water down the craft and give people a real false impression of what a love spoon can be. Over the last year or two, I've started taking the old tradition a bit more seriously. Now, when asked to carve a 'traditional' spoon, my designs more accurately reflect what the old spoons actually looked like and more important, how they 'felt'. This one is a relatively simple design (as many were) but the addition of little time consuming details such as the bordering give it the style and feeling missing in commercial souvenir spoons. That the lovely couple who received it have the same initials as my wife and I, is a fun little bonus.