A Special Anniversary

I've just finished carving a very special 'bouquet of roses' for a wonderful couple celebrating their 10th anniversary.  They are repeat customers whom I feel exceptionally proud to be able to carve for!  Their love story is inspiring, uplifting and tremendously romantic; I feel great pride and no small sense of responsibility every time I pick up a carving tool on their behalf!

I can't go into their personal details too much, suffice to say I had lots of wonderful material to work with when designing this particular piece.  The husband is Welsh and of course, nothing says Welshness quite like a robust dragon!  As a symbol of strength and security the dragon is unrivalled, but we wanted it to possess a sense of tenderness as well.  With its gently bowed head and demeanour of non-aggression, this dragon is strong and solid, without being ferocious.  He stands guard for the couple and is always there as a reminder of history.  

The beautiful, swirling grain of the figured broadleaf maple chosen for this piece further accentuates the drama and feeling of movement in the coiled dragon's body.  An abalone eye flashes mischievously in the sun and adds character to the dragon's expressive face.

Although the 10 roses were a nightmare to carve, they are the focal point of the spoon and symbolically represent the 10 years of happiness, colour and growth experienced by our anniversary couple.  Hidden amongst the flowers are 10 little hearts to celebrate their love and a tiny diamond personalized with their initials.  The stems of the roses thankfully co-operated with me throughout the carving process and didn't exercise their 'woody stubbornness' by breaking!!  It's always a huge relief to negotiate a tricky carving process without the dread breakage.

The back of the spoon is nearly as detailed as the front.  The backs of the roses, leaves, stems and Celtic knotwork are all shaped as are the hearts and the diamond.  But the back of the dragon holds a short quotation which has great relevance to the couple and which acts as a little 'surprise' when the spoon is flipped over.  All of the Celtic knots are 'closed' knots which symbolize eternity as they have no beginning or end.

This spoon was not without its (many) challenges, but I am thrilled to bits to have been part of its creation and I hope it brings our couple many, many years of pleasure!!

Are You Romantic Enough?

With Valentine's Day just over a week away, here's a quick question for you:
Are you romantic enough to give a lovespoon like this one to your sweetie, or are going to be content with the same-old-same-old chocolates and flowers routine?

This beautiful double-bowled spoon says, "Yr ydym ni ein dau yn un" (we two are as one) by unifying the two bowls into the single handle.  The broad panel style handle provides plenty of room for a series of beautiful hearts, a pair of eternal pinwheel swirls and a nice pair of 6 point 'flowers'.  The little comma symbols are said to represent the soul, but were more likely growth/fertility symbols in the old days.

The spoon bowls have been given a curious squared tip which replicates the look of an old spoon which has fallen from the wall and been repaired.  Many antique spoons display this feature which although it has no romantic symbolism whatsoever, is an engaging feature never-the-less.

The spoon has been carved from broadleaf maple which was hand milled by friends on their farm just outside Vancouver BC.  The wood shows a bit of spalting (dark streaks and patches caused by the early stages of decay) which lends the spoon some visual drama and a dash of flair!

Don't wimp out and opt for the same boring thing you did last year, this year surprise your 'cariad' with a REAL Valentine's gift!!!

Breton Wedding Spoons

I'm finally starting to get the hang of the wax inlay process that is a necessary part of carving an authentic looking Breton wedding spoon.  After a couple of false starts...notably the poorly hinged folding spoon with the anaemic candle wax inlay to the left of the frame... I learned a few hard lessons and feel like I'm getting somewhere both with the carving and with the inlaying.

The middle spoon shows vast improvement simply from the use of quality sealing wax in place of the cheap candle wax I used for my initial experiment.  The other lesson I learned was to keep the depth and width of each little triangular chip as close to the same as possible.  It's tedious and time-consuming work cutting out all those little chips; work made even more difficult by the fact they become almost invisible until the wax is added.

The third spoon (black inlay to extreme right) is definitely a merging of Celtic cousins though.  The elegant Breton pattern becomes particularly fetching when filled with black wax that I rescued off the outside of a block of lovely Welsh cheese!  I don't know what kind of wax they use to seal "Little Black Bomber" mature cheddar, but it worked as good as the cheese tasted!  Perfect!!

I don't feel like I'm quite there yet and I'll definitely have to take a few more runs at the articulated version of the Breton spoon before I can be confident enough to take a commission on one, but I'm definitely enjoying learning about this lovely branch of the lovespoon family!!