Dawn's carving

Something else I do is wood carving. Although really a novice, there is something enjoyable in shaping and working wood. Often it is a case of trial and error. Working in the confines of a small flat bring added problems, fortunately I have no carpets, however, keeping on top of the dust and wood shavings and chippings involves a daily wash down of the flat. In the picture are a variety of Australian goldfield burls, very hard wood to work with, cutting out the actual bowl has seen wood chips flying in all directions. The chips are extremely hard and often draw blood, finding them in my mug of tea is another hazard. The large bowl was done for an acquaintance down in South Wales; she is doing a pre Christmas stall and I have provided a few bits. Getting it all down to Wales was interesting, involving a light sack barrow and a large holdall and lugging it on and off public transport. The spoons are treated with a food safe vegetable oil, mainly olive or walnut oil. The burls are treated with Danish oil to feed and enhance the wood, and given a final polish. The next project in the wings is another burl, possibly a red malee burl. These things are not cheap to produce, the wood itself is costly and because I carve by hand they involve many hours of labour. If anyone is interested they can drop me an e mail.