Let's Spoon! Nauti Studios' Spoon Carving Club on Trees, Tools and Techniques

Once a month on a Monday night you will find a small band of tool-wielding folk sat in a circle
in the common room of Nauti Studios in the Blue Mountains.
Some are chatting, some are concentrating, some wear aprons, some don’t, but all of them are holding a small piece of wood that they are painstakingly carving and shaping, ever so slowly,
until the wood begins to look like something
we can all recognise…a spoon!

Yes, the spoon carving club in Hazelbrook is in da house and upholding an age-old tradition and
craft. And, the first rule of spoon club is, wait for it…you only make spoons! Nope, no forks or
knives or tissue holders or other such handy items, because alas, as the name says, it’s all in the spoon.

They are seated in a circle, a Spoonie pow pow and talk soon turns to trees and tools and techniques.

How did Spoon Club start?
It began as a small group of people meeting at Georgina Donovan’s workshop in Woodford in 2017,
before it grew and needed to be moved to Nauti. Sometimes there are up to ten people who come
to the studio. Georgina jokingly refers to their weekly gatherings as ‘Monday Spoontaneity’
because ‘when you say you are in Spoon Club at Nauti Studios, it raises eyebrows.’

How long have you been spoon carving?
The answers vary from years to months. There are newbies and those who seem to have been born with a wooden spoon in their mouths. ’I have been spoon carving for 18 months,’ says Ingrid Errington. ‘This is a very slow and meditative hobby, a very nice combination. I don’t think I’ve ever met a spoon carver that I didn’t like.’

Georgina jokingly refers to their weekly gatherings as ‘Monday Spoontaneity’
because ‘when you say you are in Spoon Club at Nauti Studios, it raises eyebrows.’

What is the best kind of wood to use and how do you source it?
There are as many types of wood as there are ways to find them. It often comes down to personal preference and happenstance. Georgina is using a piece of Mulberry and explains how she is always on the lookout for wood on the side of the road. Lots of Spoonie heads nod in agreement with various people talking about the excitement of a downed tree.

Georgina explains that the wood needs to be wet, soaked in water, so it is easier to carve. When a
fallen branch is found, she chops spoon sized blocks out of it and then soaks them in water to
soften, which she then has to put in the freezer to preserve for later use. ‘It’s a constant negotiation
with one’s partner - the space for wood in the freezer!’ There are currently pieces of a Cherry Tree in hers.

‘Dry wood is hard work,’ Paul Crowe adds. ‘I am a biologist and a pretty keen gardener,’ says Ingrid, ‘I am
always looking around at trees. I like Birch but I find the willow is very soft, too soft for a spoon. If you tap on the side it makes marks.’

Georgina carving away!

So, how is it done?
A spoon shape is sketched on to a prepared piece of wood and then a whole range of carving and
chopping objects are used to carefully coax the utensil out of the wood. The Spoonies all seem to follow the mantra ‘Carve, Look, Examine’. But, there is always the risk that the wood will split and derail the whole thing.

After an hour of carving, Erik Sipiczki laments to the room ‘Oh no, it’s going to crack off, I just realised that his piece of wood has a small crack down it, but that’s the beauty of the whole thing,’ he adds, ‘it changes all of the time.’

Jill’s collection of wood carving tools.

‘ …but that’s the beauty of the whole thing, it changes all of the time.’

Do you use the word ‘whittle’?
A few laughs and then Paul pipes up, ’whittling is carving without a purpose!’. ‘That’s what I do,’ laughs Lindsey Pacchini.

How long does it take?
‘It could take me a day if I wanted to finesse it,’ says Jill Day, ‘or it could take an hour, and it also
depends on the wood’.

What are the tools?
Erik goes outside to split wood in the traditional way, on a block using a froe, which is an L shaped shake axe looking tool, that has a wooden handle, which is about the same length as the metal blade. There are tools of every shape and size and sharpness used for very specific jobs like hatchets for chopping larger chunks, or long thin bladed knives for fine tuning sharp turns. Then there are these awesome Hook Knives, think very sharp ice cream scooper, which are used to scrape and bore out the spoon bowl.

Erik looking like a lumber jack.

John Steel, a carver and a blacksmith, is visiting the group tonight and has an impressive collection of tools all laid out on the table. It looks like an operating room set up for spoon surgery. Another very important ‘tool’ of the trade is an apron. Jill has a beautiful kangaroo hide apron, which protects her from injury. A popular way to carve is by holding the wood against your sternum, elbows tucked in and pulling the knife toward you and accidents can happen. ‘You have to be very mindful really and you have to be quiet in yourself,’ she warns, ‘it requires a calm presence.’

We must know the nautical interests of all the Spoonies! What sea animal would you be?
Ingrid – King Penguin, Georgina – Squid, Paul – Octopus (‘so I can hold more tools’), Lindsey - Turtle, Jill – Sea Horse, John – Sea Horse, Erik – Worms that lunge up from the bottom of the sea

Raise your hand if you can’t get that image out of your head of
Spoon Bob Carve Pants and his merry band of Spoonies at the bottom of the sea?
For more info on joining the Spoon Club – get in contact with Nauti Studios here.

Assorted craving tools on the table at Nauti Studios.

DAN BARANOWSKI ON ICELAND, ART AND ZEN

Nauti Sailor Daniel Baranowski recently opened a show in the Blue Mountains, filled with works inspired by landscape. We caught up with him to get the down low on his inspiration, process and passions.

Daniel Baranovski, painter and photographer, working on his works for ‘Snap Frozen & Still’ in his studio at Nauti Studios, Blue Mountains.

What’s it like to live in the Blue Mountains where there are a lot of artists and creative people? 

I was born here, went to school here, in Springwood. The mountains attract a lot of people which is really cool. If you’re born and bred here stuff just filters in. But, it’s a bit of a challenge to not do a bit of a pastiche – it doesn’t float my boat.

How long have you been an artist?

That’s a really good question. Since my exhibition! Hahaha. 

“I want to be successful, not famous.”

Okay, what about this? How long have you been ‘artistic’? 

Well, that’s been an always thing for me. I’ve always been creative in that sense. Always. Always.

Tell me about your first exhibition, ‘Snap Frozen & Still’ that’s coming up.

This is the first time I’ve painted since high school. There will be paintings, ink drawings and pastel drawings. I have what I call my ‘Socratic sense of humour’ which is why I called the exhibition what I did. It’s largely inspired by a two week trip to Iceland where I took photos because essentially you can fall over there and still take a good photo. I also brought a tiny sketch book and did some 15 minute rapid fire drawings outside in the freezing cold trying to hold a pencil with a big glove on. I do and I teach Tai Chi, and am in to the whole Zen side of things in terms of immediate response to an experience, that is, the Zen idea of capturing a fleeting moment. Also, when I was there the colours were very minimal and that is reflected in my work.

I tried to stalk you on social media but you are hard to find. Why’s that?

Oh good. My plan is working. Haha. I agree with the singer Sia who famously said something like “I want to be successful, not famous.” And, I think that fame is the byproduct of talent.

“Yes, there is a lot of movement…
but it’s still a still!”

How did you find out about Nauti Studios?

I think I saw a post randomly pop up at around the same time a friend also mentioned it. I’ve been here around 18 months or so sharing a studio with another artist who is a friend of mine. I like it here because I can do certain stuff at home but it is still limited by space.

I actually heard you paint before I saw your work. I am in the studio under yours and your brush strokes sounded as if there was a lot of movement in your paintings. It’s amazing to finally see your work and realise that what I heard is true!

Yes, there is a lot of movement. That’s my thing I guess, but it’s still a still!

Who inspires your work?

So many artists to choose from, but always Brett Whiteley and Katsushika Hokusai. Whiteley’s lines and his drawings are phenomenal. The freedom that he paints and draws with – his work is extraordinary from my point of view. And then Hokusai has the whole Japanese woodcut thing. He has different ways of doing a similar kind of thing.

Up close with Daniel Baranowski and his palette in his studio.

And finally, which nautical creature do you resonate with the most?

Scylla and Charybdis.

(Editor’s note: These are monsters in Greek mythology, mentioned in, among other texts, The Odyssey. Scylla is a six headed beast and Charybdis is a whirlpool. The grim pair were said to wreak havoc for ships sailing through the Strait of Messina, which is located between Italy and Sicily, where they flanked either side. When the ships moved to one side to avoid one, they would inevitably be too close to the other one. A no-win situation which is where phrases like ‘between a rock and hard place’ and ‘between the devil and the deep blue sea’ derive from.)

They are the flip sides where one or the other will always get you. No matter what, you’re going to get tagged by something, but that’s not always bad.

‘Snap Frozen & Still: An attempt to capture the fragile eternity of the Void’
Dan’s first exhibition and is on now, until the 14th April at Braemar Gallery
104 Macquarie Road in Springwood, Blue Mountains
(Ppen Thursday - Sunday, 10am - 4pm)