When you work with wood, you are working with a living material, says Spoonsmith founder Jeff Donne. “That sense of living, that life, really carries through into the finished product, which – with its off-centred design, wonky bits and tool marks – gives it a story [and] makes it feel alive.”
Donne makes a living hand-carving rustic, characterful spoons in a messy workshop on the New South Wales south coast. He is one of five gifted crafts people featured in our guide to the most beautifully made wooden goods you can find online.
Spoonsmith
Spoon-carving is “happy slowness”, says Donne, who learned the art of woodworking in an English woodland workshop 20 years ago. “I can axe and carve a simple spoon in about half an hour, but I would much prefer to take my time and enjoy the process that involves feeling my way around the branch before letting the grain guide my tools to the conclusion.”
Donne’s favourite timbers to work with are sheoak, blackwood and native cherry. “The colours and grain in these species are just stunning, and every log is different.”
Foraging for wood is half the fun. “I'm out there in the bush experiencing something that we miss when buying wood from a timber yard,” he says. “I'm sourcing wood, discovering hidden places, stumbling across wildlife (sometimes it stumbles across me) and connecting that hand-carved spoon to the soil that supports the tree, which in turn supports the branch from where it comes.”
Donne sells his wares at his website, where you’ll find the mini dolloper ($50), hand-carved from a log of native Australian pine, and a rustic sycamore serving spoon ($70).
Dowel Jones
In 2015, Dale Hardiman and Adam Lynch started Dowel Jones, a design studio based in Preston in Melbourne’s north. The studio’s first offering was Mr Dowel Jones ($200), a versatile, angular flat pack lamp made from Tasmanian oak. Today, the Dowel Jones range includes minimalist chairs, benches, stools and tables made in Victoria from timber and tubular steel.
Simplicity is the order of the day at Dowel Jones. Hardiman and Lynch’s no-fuss aesthetic has won the outfit numerous awards and fans around the globe. Their designs are particularly popular among hospitality venues such as Sydney’s Dessert Kitchen and Mr Burger in Melbourne.
Grafa
Travis Blandford made his first copper gardening tool in 2011. Today he runs Grafa, an artisan gardening tool business named after the Old Nordic word for “dig”. Based in Melbourne’s inner west, Blandford hand-crafts long-lasting, timber-handled trowels, scoops, hoes and forks in copper and bronze, materials both valued by organic and biodynamic gardeners. Much of the copper is upcycled, sourced from metal recycling centres around Melbourne. Green thumbs will cherish a beautiful tool like Truella ($89), Grafa’s handmade bronze garden trowel.
Border Co
“There’s something really meditative about carving a spoon,” says Justine Bolzon of Border Co. “I love that within a matter of hours I can transform an unassuming piece of timber into a finished spoon, ready to use. You don’t have that luxury with a lot of crafts.”
Bolzon handcrafts one-of-a-kind scoops, spoons and servers from local and imported timbers including maple, walnut, tea tree and myrtle. The Design and Technology teacher and “self-taught spoon carver” works from her home in suburban Adelaide. Her most intricate designs, like the Totem double scoop ($125), can take up to four hours to carve.
Inspiration comes from geometric shapes, she says. “Particularly found in paintings and jewellery. I see a combination of shapes and then scribble down on some paper and try to figure out how I might make it into a (sometimes not so) functional piece.”
Sands Made
Robbie Sands founded Melbourne design workshop Sands Made in 2011. Sands and his dedicated team of craftspeople make homewares and kitchenware that are both beautiful and functional. The Sands Made range, featuring chopping boards, bowls and cutlery, is designed to be of the highest quality, while having the lowest possible impact on the environment. A Sands Made cheese paddle – which come in nine different shapes and sizes, ranging in price from $39.95 to $189 – makes terrific servingware.
This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Russell’s Reserve, a craft bourbon matured in handpicked American White Oak barrels. To learn more follow Russell’s Reserve on Instagram.
