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I'm working on cleaning up the Celtic knotwork this week. As with the front face, I plan to only go around the pattern cutting to a shallow depth until I am satisfied that all the 'overs and unders' are correctly placed. As with the vinework lower down, I have to make sure I am doing the exact opposite over under detail to the front face or it gets quiet seriously out of hand.
Once I am satisfied that all is going to plan, I commit to deeper cuts and make the over and under sections much more visible and bold. I generally like to work my way around the entire knot to make sure nothing gets forgotten before I worry too much about cleaning the cuts up too much.
With all the overs and unders cut out, I can start to smooth out the 'ramps' so that the transitions are nice and fair. I also can start putting a light chamfer on the edges to soften out the hard edge of the knot. As with the front of the spoon, I am after a nice, crisp look which isn't too hard. The light chamfer gives the knot a subtle softening but it doesn't round it over so much that the knot takes on the shoelace look.
It's a personal thing which you are quite welcome to disagree with, but I find Celtic knots which have been rounded so much that they look like string or shoelaces have kind of a hokey, 'amateur' look to them. I'm sorry to any I might offend who enjoy that lkind of look, but I always find that excessively rounded knotwork also tends to look excessively worked and to use a theatre expression, rather overwrought! For me, the result is something like I would imagine would happen if Joan Rivers played Ophelia in Hamlet.
It really only needs the subtlest of chamfers to really soften the look and to lighten up the knotwork.
In the following couple of pictures, I hope to show some approaches to carving Celtic knotwork with keep the feel of wood rather than making the spoon look like it has been laced up. In this detail, a swirling Celtic spiral opens up and becomes a series of knot interlacings. Here, I have varied the width of the various knot strands to create some tension and to break up the monotony which would occur if they were all identical width.
I often like to vary the width within an individual strand and find that making the knot a bit bulbous as it bends gives it an organic liveliness. I also find when I do my knotwork like this that it has a really nice organic feel almost like it is structured vine. The variations in line width are definitely eye-catching and vibrant!
This final knotwork picture is from a couple of lovely spoons carved by one of my lovespoon heroes, Alun Davies. Alun's knots are stunning for their even, clean line and the beautiful soft doming effect he puts on the upper face. Although the edges of his knots are only ever-so-slightly eased, the effect he achieves is a very square knot which is at the same time extremely soft and 'touchable'. I have yet to see a carver anywhere who can equal his deft touch!
Knotwork is admired and valued for its complexity of pattern, but equally important is the finish. Like so many things, it is often much better to do a simple thing really well than to do a complicated thing half-assed. I recommend to anyone wanting to try their hand at Celtic knotwork to start with some simple ones and work on getting them as clean and vibrant as possible. Once the simple ones look good, move up in difficulty a step or two at a time.
On the subject of a step or two at a time.... I am carving this spoon to raise funds in support of the Left Coast Eisteddfod, a showcase of Welsh culture to be held in Portland Oregon this August 22 weekend. Putting on an event of this calibre isn't easy and any and all support is welcome! If you have been enjoying this blog (and better yet, if you have been learning some carving/designing tricks from it) I hope that you will consider donating a few dollars to help fund what can become an exciting annual event. Every dollar you donate will give you a chance to win the finished Dragon spoon as well as to receive thanks and adoration.
I want it and I thought others might, too!
AmeriCymru Member Keith Underwood cycling across Wales to raise funds for Bobath Childrens Therapy Centre Wales
By gaabi, 2009-05-25
The other day, while she examined some lovespoons I had on display, I overheard a young girl saying to her friend, "Wooden spoons? What's with that?" Sadly, the romance and the whole love message idea of them went right over her head. Even after I valiantly tried to explain the history and meaning of them in a snappy Coles Notes version, I could tell she really didn't get it. Although the rest of the day went much better than that and the majority of visitors to my booth were effusive in their appreciation of the lovespoon tradition, that little girl weighed heavily on my mind. I'm no luddite, but I find it a little bit sad when I encounter people who would rather an Ipod or a bog-standard diamond ring to a wooden gift which has been hand made and is loaded with subtle meaning. I even understand them. Day in and day out we are bombarded with ads and propaganda telling us what to buy and what is in fashion (and let's be honest, handmade wood stuff is not particularly fashionable)...the commercial gift industry is both slick and persuasive...and after all, who wouldn't want an Ipod?
But I'm going to use the spoon shown here today to show you why some 'dime a dozen' mass produced diamond ring which may even have blood on it can NEVER compete with the power of these delicate pieces of wood.
What really makes this spoon special is something that you can't see. Rather than putting together a series of symbols or meaningful images, this spoon was designed to capture a feeling. For the couple who commissioned it, the spoon is a remembrance of a single significant event in a lifetime of memories. For you and I, it is a nice walnut spoon with a cheerful yellow cedar inlay and some nice Celtic knotwork. For them, it is the memory of a long-ago walk on a wintery moonlit night when the promises of a life-long love were made.
The spoon begins with an obvious and easily understood symbol. The heart shaped bowl signifies the unity and strength of their love joined as one. Even to those of us unaware of the true meaning hidden in the spoon, the heart lets us know this spoon is about love. The little diamond above the bowl is another traditonal theme. It is a wish for prosperity, but it indicates the kind of prosperity which doesn't come with money alone. It symbolizes the richness of a full and happy life shared with someone who has won your heart and who has given their heart in return.
Celtic knotwork is a modern addition to the lovespoon vocabulary which is often used to symbolize eternal love. While that is completely relevant on this spoon, the knots here create a valley which the couple gazed down into on that distant night. The valley came to be a significant symbol of separation for the couple when they were parted, but as they are now reunited, so the valley walls are now linked by the knotwork.
The yellow cedar inlay moon is the most significant feature of the design. Inlayed into the centre of the walnut, it is visible behind walnut knotwork from both sides of the spoon. The moon itself is carved with an 'eternal' Celtic knot to symbolize the never-ending nature of their love; its brightness against the dark grain of the walnut a reminder of the brightness and promise of that night. As the light travels down into the valley, the walnut knotwork surrounds it and acts to symbolically carry the moon's light into that winter night.
Could an Ipod or a diamond bring the magic of that night and all the feelings and emotions it holds back to our couple like this wooden spoon has? I seriously doubt it and for that I am thankful that there is wood in the world and the tradition of working it this way.
"Wooden spoons? What's with that?" Sorry kid, you're missing out.
Congratulate the Devil , Howell Davies, (2008) Parthian Library of WalesThis Howell Davies science fiction novel was originally published in 1939 and has been re-published in paperback by Parthian Books under their Library of Wales imprint.
Congratulate the Devil is a revelation: engaging, unique, relevant and vibrant, seventy years after its initial publication. The narrative is subtle, darkly humorous and cheerfully bitter. Davies solidly built his characters: mannerism by action by reaction, as protagonist James Starling evolves steadily and subtly, from useless playboy to doomed and unwilling witness to tragedy and, ultimately, himself its victim. Starling visits a friend from his school days, Roper, to find that Roper, now a chemist, has made the startling discovery of a new drug which gives its user omniscient control over the actions and attitudes of others. Use of the drug also alters its user and provides Davies his platform to discuss which has greater effect and so is more destructive: malignant lust or good intention.
This new edition includes a marvelous, sparkling foreward by Howell Davies' grandson, Adrian Dannatt. Rather than another writer's hopefully very interesting impressions of the book, the author and the author's style or ability, Dannatt shares with us memories of his grandfather, intimate snapshots of Howell Davies as an individual that no acquaintence or contemporary could provide.
Congratulate the Devil is a classic, "Golden Age", sci-fi masterpiece of the 1930s, easily on par with any other work of its time and which never received the recognition it deserved. Unlike its American counterparts of the Joseph Campbell era, Davies novel is not pulp, it's a novel. There aren't any spaceships, aliens or gadgets and the science in the story is not the focus, its details and particulars are barely described. Fictional science is the catalyst that directs all the characters' narrative thereafter but the characters, their interaction, their fates and how they are effected by a product of science, are the story.
Parthian's Library of Wales series features works of Anglo-Welsh literature (works by Welsh authors in English) and their catalog can be found here .
"Nothing remains for me now but to congratulate the Devil on all his works." Howell Davies (1939)
This week I'm continuing my work on the back face of the Left Coast Eisteddfod spoon with more work on the vines and some shaping of the maple leaf and the star.
Before committing to the knives, I am careful to mark the overlaps with a pencil. I also want to draw the path of the vine across the leaf and star so that I can remember to carve it later! Because I want the dragon's tail to be uninterrupted on the front face, I didn't bother with too much over/under where the vines merge into the celtic knot. If I wasn't so interested in keeping the flow of the tail, I could have overlapped these a bit more but it would have broken things up a bit.
With the lines penciled out, I use my small straight knife held also in a pencil grip to scribe the lines to a depth of approximately 1/16th of an inch. This keeps the sides of the vines pretty vertical, marks out the path of the vines and gives me a line to start cutting against when I start lowering the leaf and the star.
In this picture I have begun cutting down the leaf using the straight cut along the vine as both a guide and stopping point. With my leaves, I resist the urge to really thin them down as my spoons are generally subjected to regular handling and an excessively thin leave becomes a breaking hazard. I try to achieve the illusion the spoon is thin by tapering toward the edges, but I still leave enough thickness that the leaf can handle rough treatment. When the spoon is viewed from the front or back, the leaf will look pretty thin and 'flowing', but when viewed from the side it will be apparant that it is a bit more substantial.
If I knew the spoon wouldn't be touched, I would thin foliage details to the very minimum. However, handling these spoons is part of their pleasure, so sometimes a little aesthetic sacrifice has to occur for the guarantee of security!
With the leaf, star and vines roughed out, I can begin to define things a bit. The vines start getting rounded over and the leaf will get a bit of texturing as it is thinned out. I'm rounding each leg of the star a bit to give it a softer feel than the more 'sheriff's badge' look the front face has and to give the back of the spoon a more organic feel.
This picture shows the 'organic' section of the spoon nearly completed. Once the rest of the spoon is complete, I'll return to this area for a final touch-up and to do some last minute shaping and sanding of the rounded edges on the vines. I hope that you have been enjoying this little blog and that following the creation of this spoon will encourage you to donate to the Left Coast Eisteddfod. It's easy to do and might win you this spoon!
This week I'll climb down off the soapbox for a while and will get some carving done on the vine section of the Eisteddfod spoon.
I'm going to carve the back of this spoon quite extensively so that it is pretty much the equal of the front. I think that especially with vine and Celtic knot patterns, the look of the spoon is vastly improved when both sides are done. Now because there is an over and under pattern to the vine, I am going over it carefully with a pencil to mark out the pattern before I commit to the knife. It's REALLY easy to get things out of order on the back, especially since you have to think about what is happening on the front and then do the exact opposite. It's always a lot easier to erase a pencil line than to have to repair a errant cut, so the couple of minutes I spend with the graffite is time well spent!
With the lines marked and double-checked, I go at it with the straight knife and with the small chisel. My cuts are shallow at first but get progressively deeper once I know the pattern is all cut correctly.
With the over under pattern cut away and the sharp edges of the vines eased with some chamfer cuts, it is time to round the edges more vigourously. I use cloth backed abrasive paper for this job, BUT I never touch sandpaper to the project until I am fully confident that I won't need to do any more knife carving. All abrasive papers leave behind microscopic bits of abrasive grit which gets lodged in the wood being sanded. When the knife blade passes through this buried grit, its razor sharp edge is quickly dulled and ruined.
With the rounding completed, I use progressively finer grades of abrasive paper to take out any scratches and leave the surface almost finished. Because the cloth backed abrasive has been largely used across the wood's grain, often times lots of scratches will remain which have to be taken out for the piece to look attractive. Never use a coarser grade than 150 cloth backed abrasive on your project or you will be left with deep scratches that are murder to remove. With paper abrasives, follow the direction of the grain and work up to 220 grade for a nice silky, smooth finish.
The vines and back of the bowls are now nearly completed. I will do a final shaping and sanding immediately prior to finishing, but for now this will be good. Speaking of being good...please be good by donating a couple of dollars to the Left Coast Eisteddfod and helping the idea of a fabulous Welsh cultural event become a reality. All donations, big or small are gratefully received and all enter you in the running to win this lovespoon when it is finished and presented on August 22 in Portland Oregon
