Guest editor Kevin Alviti introduces the craftsman, teacher and author known only as Barn the Spoon
If you’ve ever read any of my articles in this magazine, or other woodworking magazines (Woodworking Crafts, Woodturning, Furniture & Cabinetmaking), you’ll know that my projects always lean towards the practical. I want beauty AND function. I want to be proud of all the items in my house that I use daily. That’s why when I was asked to pick a carver for this issue my mind instantly went to Barn the Spoon.
I have his book Spōn on my bookshelf at the top of the stairs, read from cover to cover. It is a book that has been eagerly lent out if anyone ever says they want to start in woodwork but doesn’t know where. What better way could there be than creating a functional object with the minimal number of tools and a small amount of wood. I mean, who doesn’t have a spoon in their house?
Of course, looking in his book gives us all some lofty ambitions of what can be achieved – his look faultless, with a gorgeous tooled finish, and it can seem like a steep road to climb to get there. But the other thing that Barn does is instil the joy of woodworking in you and the almost meditative effect I’m sure we all experience when we’re working with wood by hand, creating shavings, woodchips and sawdust.
Barn has made his career from carving spoons. Potentially this could be seen as an unusual way to earn your living from working wood, after all, many of us have to diversify into many facets of woodworking to pay the bills, but there have been spoon carvers all throughout history. A spoon was probably the first tool you ever learned to use as little more than a baby and generations have learnt in the same way. Wood is the perfect material for a spoon – we can shape it, it’s durable and good for the earth and Barn is the perfect man to inspire people about spoon carving: friendly, interesting and passionate.
Tell us how you became a spoon carver; was it something you consciously set out to be?
I was very fortunate to have had an amazing woodwork teacher at school. The walls of our CDT (Craft, Design & Technology) workshop were covered in posters of the work of Hepworth and Nash. Roger Jones was a fantastic turner and set up a turning club for kids who probably didn’t necessarily fit into athletics or book club. I totally fell in love with woodwork. What got me hooked forever was turning a bowl from some beautifully mellowed cherry at age 12 – whenever I smell cherry shavings I’m taken straight back to those magic moments of creation. From there I ended up getting my own lathe, which lived in my parents’ garage – weekend jobs and pocket money was spent on turning tools, chucks and fancy woods from Craft Supplies.
While I used to churn out bowls, candlesticks and toadstools, I was really into sculptural work too, I’d always have pocket-sized sculptural pieces often started as off-centre turning but also shaped with carving gouges, knives and abrasives. I was very experimental with finishes such as texturing and burning, but I was also completely obsessed with a 12000 grit polished surface to reveal the grain of exotic hardwoods. The first spoon I made was out of Mike Abbott’s book Green Woodwork, so coincided with my official introduction to using green wood. I often used to turn green wood on my lathe but knew that it would split afterwards – it was just a fun exercise in making shavings.
Understanding how to convert wood from green logs was a pivotal moment in my life. I’ve been fortunate to have many teachers, I’ve tried to learn as much as possible from folk whose work I admire. For me, spoons are the perfect woodwork project; a clear path in terms of functionality as compared to a piece of art, but still infinite in its possibilities within those tight restrictions.
In terms of actually becoming a spoon carver, in as much as doing it for a living, it was purely because I had become obsessed with doing it. If I wanted to do it all the time, I had to find a way of paying the bills too. Initially this was not difficult. Having worked and lived outdoors with Mike Abbott and been inspired by folk I’d met who’d lived an itinerant lifestyle, I set off with my backpack and some very basic tools to get by as a spoon tramp. This gave me years of very cheap living that essentially afforded me a self- served apprenticeship to master the craft.
Was there a certain piece you created which made you suddenly realise you had become a spoon carver? Was there a point where it all clicked, for example?
3D or form is like an amazing landscape of ideas, and this gives any one of us a whole universe to explore. These ideas are all connected like branches, twigs and leaves on a tree. By exploring the possibilities, this tree grows in your mind – it’s like a map, the outer edges of which you get to create. It has been a very long journey for me with so many signposts and markers along the way; all of which are really significant in my life, but probably seem quite dull to the average person.
What made you decide to open a shop in London?
Having lived an itinerant lifestyle, I felt I’d got what I needed and although I found it incredibly enjoyable, I felt perhaps it was a little selfish and that I should be contributing to some form of community. A job came up in London teaching green woodwork to kids with behavioural issues one day a week – I jumped at the chance. They had a shower at the school – I thought I was going to live in the park and sell my spoons the other six days. For a while, I maintained this lifestyle, but I was earning enough money to afford rent and a friend knew a cheap room in an ideal location. A friend had a basement flat with a tiny little shop front which he wasn’t using – in fact, most of the shop fronts on that street were empty.
I was interested in sharing with the world how wonderful craft can be and it seemed like an obvious way to get people to take it more seriously. It also gave me somewhere other than my bedroom to put my Tormek and I thought it would be nicer for work when it was raining. I made him an offer, and the rest is history.
You seem to be very big in what has been called The New Wood Culture – what would you describe this as?
With the age of the internet and the newly available blogs, more people were able to share their craft online. That and the ability to research and share photos of old craft from museums and collections all around the world had a huge impact on me. I was drawn to the old ways of relying on sharp tools and skill, of using knowledge and a tangible connection to nature to source materials rather than relying on commercial sources. What’s more, I felt that in its efforts to be taken seriously craft had erred too far towards art, and for me not only were these old spoons and bowls more real through being functional, they were much more aesthetically pleasing too.
The emerging crafts were different, because it wasn’t modern wood engineering like dovetails with router tables. It wasn’t the standard nod to highly decorated non-functional items, nor was it deconstructed craft presented as art. There was a real challenge in using skill rather than just machines or excessive amounts of time. The joy one might expect from surfing a wave, swinging a golf club or kicking a football in to the back of the net. And like football, these crafts with a basic set of tools were entirely accessible but difficult to master. I had seen a Facebook group called Wood Culture, I loved that concept.
I realised that at the core what made us different was wood and trees being a way of life. I used the phrase Wood Culture Renaissance, the idea of rebirth resonated with me – a closer relationship for humans to trees, the way it always used to be. I saw a future, and still do, where this connection is much stronger than it is currently. The actual phrase New Wood Culture was coined by a friend, Jarrod Dahl. I think he thought it sounded more accessible than renaissance. I’ve recently attended a presentation he gave at the prestigious American North House Folk School where he discussed the continuous wood culture stretching back millennia in Japan and how this relates to their amazing lacquerware created using urushi, a fantastic natural wood finish that means handmade wooden bowls and other treen including spoons are still commonplace in Japan.
Why do you think spoon carving has become so big the past few years?
The real question should be, why has spoon carving not been for the last 100? Most cultures on this planet are born out of wood cultures. Virtually no societies make no use of wood. Spoons of their various styles have evolved all over our planet and are seen as precious items, particularly when carved either by an artisan in a regional style or as a folk craft carved for a loved one. The green woodwork revolution, in many respects, was started with chair making from cleft green wood and hand tools such as drawknives and pole lathes. The large immigrant population in the US from Scandinavia was the tie that meant Wille Sundqvist, who wrote Swedish Carving Techniques, came to teach classes in America. That planted seeds for many people.
People crave a connection with their environment – peeling shavings with razor-sharp knives is extremely satisfying. Using tools that are cheap and don’t take up much space and a material that is easy to source in comparison, for example, to large quality boards for cabinetmaking or long, fast-grown ash for chair making – it does not surprise me at all that spoon carving has become so popular.
You have written a number of books which I’m sure are used by many for inspiration of shapes and styles of spoons and scoops. Are there any books or art works you are drawn to again and again?
There aren’t really any books that I keep going back to. There are a few books which have photos of craft that I haven’t been able to have my own record of. Where possible I try to own craft which is inspirational, 3D cannot be done justice in 2D, I use inspirational craft all day long. In the UK, we have the Mary Rose museum, which is a truly astonishing record of wood culture. I remember Richard Raf fan’s book The Art of Turned Bowls – reading that aged 12 was a massive inspiration – and other books such as The Practical Woodturner by F Pain.
What has shaped your carving style?
It’s hard to pin down accurately why I become obsessed with certain forms. In many respects, I feel it must be like being a folk musician, working with traditional styles, maybe putting my own twist on them. The time it takes to make probably has a lot to do with it. This is in part, down to making a living from it. My spoons tend to sell for around £45-£120, the majority of them take me around one hour to make. This doesn’t leave much scope for decoration, keeps the form simple but gives me more time than your average medieval artisan. The spoons must be functional, they are unsanded, ergonomic but with archaic shapes that are understated.
Have you seen your style change much over the years?
My spoons are more refined now than ever. My focus does change, depending on what I’m into at the time. I’m working with more bent branch spoons than I have for the last five or six years.
Where is your favourite place to carve? Your workshop, home, outdoors?
It’s a wonderful thing to do in all sorts of places. These days I tend to be quite busy on other projects, and only carve for a couple of hours a day. I do this at home, 6:30-9:00 in the morning with a large cup of coffee while listening to podcasts or audiobooks. I tend to spend about an hour a week prepping spoons so each morning I am just carving with my knives.
If there was a selection of logs from different species, but you could only take one, what would you be drawn to? Do you have a favourite?
It’s a nice challenge to work with what you’ve got. Like I said, I’m using bent branches at the moment, but ask me on another day and I’d say that clean, straight, fast-grown sycamore can’t be beaten. One of the real joys of spoon carving is that you can use so many different woods and there are so many different types of spoons. For a cooking spoon, you’d maybe want something more hardwearing, But everything from willow, hazel, blackthorn, field maple, birch – they all have their characteristics but each log is unique.
Do you own any tools with real sentimental value?
When it comes to spoon carving, not really. I’ll happily use any old axe or knife as long as I’ve sharpened it the way that I like it. When it comes to bent blades, I use ones I’ve made myself. I like to experiment pushing boundaries by creating new styles of old tools, it’s very empowering, I wouldn’t want to be a racing driver without having a hand under the bonnet too. They go hand in hand. The knowledge is precious to me rather than a particular tool or spoon for that matter, if, for some reason, I damaged one beyond repair, I would just make another one without a second thought. That said, I’ve recently got into timber framing and really appreciate my bruzze, hewing axe and adze – tools I’ve had hanging around for a while but hadn’t really appreciated. They are an utter joy to use and would be a real hassle to try to make or find for sale.
I’m terrible for loving an anecdote – do you have any funny stories about spoon carving or your travels while spoon carving?
I did have a blow-out on the M25 once, and some guy in a van pulled over – and jumped out with my book and asked me to sign it, which was hilarious. He was really nice and extremely helpful so I was very grateful for the small amount of notoriety spoon carving has given me.
What hobbies do you have?
I really enjoy going for nice walks with my wife and our little dog, and to be honest just hanging out with friends. I’m also into other forms of woodwork, increasingly getting into joinery, carpentry and house renovations and dream of spending more time woodturning. As I’m sure many of your readers will appreciate, there’s no shortage of things to enjoy making, just a shortage of time. That’s another reason spoons are the perfect project – you can have your lump of wood and tools hidden away in your bag and whip them out when a spare moment becomes available.
What are you working on in the future? Where do you see your work heading?
I’m always excited about new designs and ideas, this spills over into my toolmaking too. I absolutely love teaching and want to do more than the couple of days a month I currently do. Both my wife and I continue to put a lot of effort into spoonclub.co.uk, with more than 200 hours of video and new content added every week.
