I first discovered Nic Webb’s beautiful hand carved wooden spoons at the Contemporary Craft Fair in Bovey Tracey earlier this year. Each spoon is hand carved, using traditional tools and techniques. The timber is collected on walks around the British Isles or overseas and worked green, allowing it to twist and move while it seasons, creating wonderful natural surprises.

“When I begin carving, I look for the differing qualities in each piece of timber,” says Nic. He allows the grain and character to influence each design so that every spoon evolves to have its own personality and becomes a showcase for the limitless beauty of wood.

Many of the spoons look as though they have been grown or formed by processes of natural erosion. I particularly like the use of charring to create black hollows within some of the spoons. I also like the refined elegance of the pickle spoons, gently curving like the pieces of wood they came from. In fact, all of Nic’s work is exactly what I look for in contemporary design - a fine example of ethical and sustainable materials being crafted into joyful objects of use.

If you would like to learn how to make spoons yourself, Nic is running several workshops and courses, at the end of this year and beginning of next. For more details, please visit his website.