...we've been learning what doesn't work, what works, what we might need, the last year has definitely been a steep learning curve! Sometimes it feels like a bad case of rearrangeritis (diagnosis courtesy of Stumpy Nubs aka James Hamilton on YouTube), but shifting the layout of our workspace has actually been due to learning how we work best, what we're working with and trying to maximise the limited space we have. 

This is the set up we had been working with, quite cluttered, still figuring out the best place for machines to go and we had some random bits of old furniture that we'd utilised.

Much more streamlined, yay! We have the bigger machines on the left, along with the dust extraction and the machines are on wheels, so easy to bring out when we need them and we have a lovely workspace on the right hand side, hurrah!

I've just had a week off, a week at home, partly due to COVID-19 and partly because travel is pretty difficult for me anyway! So I spent a lot of the week in the woodshop, pottering and carving.

So, what do I mean by a journey by spoon? I realise I'm very task oriented, I have an image, a goal, the end result and I'm driven to get there and finish what I'm doing. Finish the task at work, finish the particular craft piece I'm working on, be it painting, carving, beading etc, but what I have realised is that the process for me, is usually just a means to an end.

There was a particular moment whilst carving this spoon that I had this realisation:

Brain: Carving spoons is cool, reckon you can make one with rings?
Me: I think I can, I'll give it a go!
Brain: How about seven rings, that seems like a good number?
Me: Yeah, yeah, why not, I like the idea of seven rings.
Carving commences...
Me: Two rings, two rings definitely seems like a good number.

To explain, I have a bad shoulder and a spinal defect, both of which cause me a lot of pain, so I have to adapt to what my body can cope with, and seven rings was going to be decidedly taxing. The seven rings became two and, as I wanted some interest, I made the spoon handle wavy instead of straight, which made me think of the two little rings taking a journey down a wavy path.

This thought was subsequently followed by the lightbulb moment where I realised that I was rushing through what I was doing to get to my end product, instead of appreciating the process of carving the wood, a peaceful, natural material, and also the process that had taken place in my head, adapting my design as I went along.

I have more ideas and lots more pieces of wood, but I'm definitely going to try to be more mindful in my approach and enjoy the creative journey of what I'm making, rather than just enjoying that I've made it.
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Think my shoulder and back will probably appreciate it too!!

​What is this? Yes, it's a block of wood... it's also a picture of possibilities, this small block of wood could become numerous things. But how do you decide? Where you do you start? What if it doesn't turn out like it's meant to? We are often faced with daunting challenges, but we have to take a deep breath and take a first step.

I started teaching myself woodcarving earlier this year, having zero experience and no idea where to start. So I took a first step (which of course was the internet) I picked up some information on the ideal tools to start with and found out that a tool shop not too far away from us had a woodcarving club. Being as impatient as I am, I also ordered tools and wood blanks and just had a go, using the trial and error method and learning how not to get many tiny cuts on my fingers.
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Four months later, I decided to enter a carving competition. I had those moments of doubt flitting around my head, “what on earth am I going to carve?”, “what if my work isn’t good enough?”, “I’ve only been doing this a few months”, “I’ll never win, maybe I won’t bother”, I acknowledged those doubts, and then ploughed on anyway; if I didn't try, I definitely didn't have a chance. In the end I decided on a seahorse, I painted one a little while ago and find them fascinating creatures, I sketched out my design and then made the first cut into the wood. Throughout the doubts, I just kept making the cuts in the wood, and all those little cuts turned into something I was really rather pleased with, so I took that deep breath and uploaded my pictures to the website.

I'd love to say I won… I didn't win, but a large part of entering for me was to challenge myself and try and create something far more intricate than I’d done previously, and the fact it was for a competition motivated me to push out of my carving comfort zone before I started getting stuck in it.
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I realise I approach most things this way, things can seem big or overwhelming and it's difficult to see how you can get to the end point, but I just have to take the first step, however small it is; each small step gets you closer to where you want to be. Sometimes those steps may take an unexpected direction (as an artist I can call these a design change) and change the planned outcome, this could result in a lesson learnt, or even something better than what you originally envisioned!

Keep taking those steps.