The Tree Craft Sessions @ Illawarra Festival of Wood
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Event description
About Tree Craft
Tree Craft is about using every part of the tree to make functional and useful items. Using only the simplest of tools, it's a fantastic craft that incorporates everything from spoon carving to furniture making, bark weaving and beyond!
About Jeff Donne
Jeff is a professional spoon carver and Tree Craft teacher from the Far South Coast of NSW. One of Australia's best known spoon carvers with many years of carving and teaching under his belt, Jeff teaches traditional methods where a small axe and knife are used to slice away layers of wood from a freshly cut log. He runs a roving Spoon School that travels much of Australia, spreading hand carved happiness from Tassie to Alice Springs and beyond. For more information on Jeff, go towww.spoonsmith.com.au
About the Tree Craft Sessions
These little workshops are the perfect introduction to Tree Craft. Do one or do them all.
Saturday's axe skills workshop will see you taking a freshly cut branch and turning it into a beautiful and functional spatula. We'll use one tool, just a small axe, to make your perfect pot stirrer that'll last you a lifetime.
Saturday's knife skills workshop will see you get to grips with the world's most used tool: the knife. You will start with a branch that has been axed to a basic spoon shape by Jeff, and from there you will be shown how to use the humble carving knife in many ways to craft your very own spoon.
Sunday's Little Ladle Workshop is a real favourite. Using an axe and knife you will turn a seemingly throwaway part of a tree into a lovely little ladle with a twig and bark handle. Once you start making these it's hard to stop!
Sunday's traditional bird carving workshop is a super relaxing way to finish up at this awesome festival. Take a seat and learn this traditional Scandinavian craft of carving wooden birds. You'll start with a small branch, carve it to shape using a range of knife techniques, and add an Australian twist with the addition of gum leaf wings. Tree Craft and the art of whittling perfectly combined.