Not A Bite!!!

Well I guess there's not going to be a sale on my latest carving. This is the second week that it's been listed on eBay.

OK, there's been plenty of viewings but no bids, it's probably too expensive for the type of consumer that's looking at this type of product. In essence, an on-line flea market where you sell goods for a buck. Maybe the time is getting near where a stand alone website for Welsh Lovespoons would be in order?

I can still make the smaller type of spoon for eBay and at a price that would be in keeping with the majority of what's on offer. I though I would give it a go with a more complex carving for the more appreciative collector. The unfortunate thing is, the more complex, the more time involved in making the carving. Therefore a higher price for the carving, still a bargain for the price.

Well, the latest offering ends on Sunday 11th so if it doesn't sell I'll be displaying at home. Either way it's a win, win situation!!

What do you think?

Make Way for the Dragon!!

After perfecting the design for my latest Welsh Lovespoon I decided that the material to use for the carving would be Mahogany. The reason for this choice was that I wanted the detail to stand out once it was waxed and polished. I did consider the use of Maple or Walnut but thought that Maple would be too light and Walnut to be too dark. The only apprehension was the fact that Mahogany can be a little stringy with the grain and tear if the tools are not super sharp.

With this in mind I set about cutting the bulk of the excess material away with a 14" Grizzly bandsaw with a 1/4" blade. This allowed me to get into the tightest corners without the worry of snagging the material. Once this was accomplished it was a case of drilling pilot holes to accept the blade of a scroll saw. My particular saw of choice was a Delta with variable speed. I must confess that this part of the operation is the least pleasant for me as I tend to have my fair share of blade breakages which always puts me on edge.

Now the fun part begins as I start to carve the bowl of the spoon. This is always my first operation as it gives instant gratification. Next I start carving the dragon and work my way around the whole carving doing different parts to keep the interest fresh. With the detail work taking shape it suddenly goes from a flat piece of wood into an actual three dimensional work or art.


As I get to the scroll that supports the heart from the bowl of the spoon, care has to be taken as this is probably the most delicate part of the carving due to the amount of vulnerable end grain. With all the main carving out of the way I look over the completed Lovespoon and fine tune all areas before sanding to a smooth finish.


Once I am satisfied with the smoothness I apply a liberal coat of citrus wax and buff out to a nice satin finish, once again inspecting the smoothness and sanding with fine sandpaper to get any roughness out. With it finalized I can put it up for auction on eBay. Hopefully the uniqueness of the carving will prompt people to view it at least and maybe even a sale.

With each carving, even though some of them are the same design, they all end up different in some way. This is the beauty of a hand carving.

Uniqueness in Design

During the course of carving the various Welsh Lovespoons that I have made to date, I find that it is extremely important to try and develop a fresh design. You may say, that's not too difficult but when you surf the web there are hundreds, if not thousands of competitors trying to do the same thing. The answer is to try and gain an edge and make sure that it is totally unique, then you have something that a person would be willing to buy. Add this to the fact that everything on the Welsh Lovespoon is totally hand carved, then you have something that is unique in every aspect.

Take for instance the carving on the page "Making use of Windfalls," that carvings inspiration came from looking at our grape vine in the garden and seeing the fallen limb of the Jacaranda tree. A dead limb and a flourishing grape vine combined together created the idea and the carving turned out to be exceptional and meaningful. The end result was a delicate carving of grape vines, hearts and lovebirds.


Now what if I were to combine a Heart with a Welsh Dragon and a Celtic Cross to make a truly Welsh theme Lovespoon. It would certainly make for an interesting design, add a flame and CYMRU (Welsh for Wales) into the mix, then join it together with lattice work. I think it could work and it would be quite substantial, twelve to fourteen inches long, four inches wide.


As you can see from all the elements, the design is formulating and no doubt there will be numerous changes along the way so I'll sign off for now and continue once the design is fixed.

BUT we still have to consider what timber to use!!!

Classic in Every Sense

During the past few weeks carving has taken a back stage as my primary work takes precedent over my hobby. Such has been the urgency to complete projects that the only Welsh Lovespoon that I have produced has been a small version with a classic theme.



This carving measures 6" x 1.75" and is carved from Maple. It may be regarded as being small in comparison to the version with Hearts and Vines that I spoke about in a previous post but it does not diminish the complexity of the carving. It is still challenging to carve the surfaces in a smaller area. It means that the carving tools used would have to be of a smaller variety.

The one good thing in carving maple on a smaller scale, is that, with the grain being tight, there is less tendency of tear-out happening. When carving Mahogany, extra care has to be taken and super sharp tools used to keep the carving crisp.

To give my mind a break from my primary job, lunch break provides a pleasant respite so that I can immerse myself into the carving and then return refreshed. The actual carving takes approximately 6-10 hours on and off and once placed on eBay it is really up to the mercy of the bidders. Nevertheless it is always rewarding to sell the carving regardless of the final price.

Carving with Passion

"With every carving there has to be an image in your mind of the desired end result, this is the driving force that will create your masterpiece."

With each Lovespoon that I create, it always starts off with a sketch to depict the elements that I want to convey to the prospective buyer. For instance, if it is approaching St Patrick's Day then the carving will incorporate clovers with the leaves in the shape of hearts.




This will then appeal to the romantic and the religious. Obviously each carving will have a different appeal to different people, a motorcycle enthusiast might like a Lovespoon to have a motorcycle theme, a baseball fan, a baseball theme and so on. You will find that most of my carvings will follow in the traditional sense, to keep with the ancient history and the overall meaning of a Welsh Lovespoon.

This Celtic tradition stems back almost 500 years and I'm sure that many of the carvers these days still use old carving tools. It would be interesting to know what brand is favored by most carvers. Would it be Marples, Buck, Pfeil, Sorby or Henry Taylor just to name a few. I have a mixture of several of these brands, each dealing with a specific task, so I guess it's a case of what you get use to.

Providing the tool is sharp and the carver is confident, the carving will come alive!!!

Dogs and Soccer!!!

Breaking News !!

Reds hold on for a 1-0 victory.

Landseer, latest soccer sensation!!

This gallery photograph of our Newfoundland Dog, "Biggles", proudly posing after his quick intervention in a game of soccer.

It wasn't an intentional game, it all started on one of our daily strolls. It was a quiet Sunday morning in the park, not many people around and with him being of good nature we decided to let him off leash. No problem, he sticks to your side like butter eyeing your every movement. Well, as you can imagine we walked pass the local soccer field where a friendly game of soccer was in progress, blue stripped jerseys were attacking from the left towards the solid reds on the right. A long through ball was placed towards the forward on the right edge of the field. The attacker controlled the ball and easily side stepped the defender to head towards the goal. Clearly this was a very serious situation for the red team with only the goalie standing there to defend their precarious 1-0 lead.

Before we new it, "Biggles" our Newfie was away. A mighty fine slide tackle ensued and up he pops, game ball. Of course there was a mighty whistle from the referee, with the game coming to a halt. "Biggles" stopped in his tracks gazing at the referee with the soccer ball hanging from his mouth. The referee walks sternly up to him and does no more than to show him the red card, the game's over for him.

Disappointed, he walks slowly towards us with his head hung low, but in his mind we know what he's thinking, the reds still retain their 1-0 lead.

Jacaranda Blues!!

Living here in Southern California gives you the option of being able to surf in the morning and ski in the afternoon making it one of the most unique places to live within the USA.

I find that my favorite season is during the spring time where the streets and avenues take on a whole new look with the blossoms of Cherry and Jacaranda filling the once dormant trees. One would never know that the Jacaranda is an import and native of Brazil, Northwestern Argentina and Bolivia. It has established itself in courtyards and landscaping making for a spectacular display in spring and early summer of beautiful clusters of lavender blue flower.


I use to have a couple of Jacaranda trees in my yard but I found that the clay soil was not to their liking. Inadequate drainage caused the roots to rot, leaving me with dead ten foot tall trees. They tend to like well drained soil so if I were to grow them again there would have to be extensive soil amendment done.

Removing the trees was not a problem, after all there were no roots! I thought that maybe I could use the timber for making a couple of chisel handles. Most of the moisture had already been purged from the tree so I turned up a couple of handles and was pleasantly surprised by the vivid grain.


Maybe this would make an interesting Welsh Lovespoon, I was a little apprehensive at first so I decided to make only a small example. I decided to make a classic design that incorporated Celtic Knotwork and Hearts. This would be intricate enough to see how suitable the timber would be and quite different.

I cut a section out of the four inch trunk leaving the bark on for added interest, penciled in the design and went to work. I found the timber hard to carve, so sharp carving tools were essential but progress was reasonably quick. Once carved the timber sanded to a very smooth finish and after applying a wax paste finish the grain of the Jacaranda jumped out making the spoon come alive.

My Jacaranda trees were dead but by utilizing the timber they have been brought back to life in a unique fashion, be it as a chisel handle or a Welsh Lovespoon.