The account below was written by Mark, one of our Students at the July 2022 Spoon carving day.

Mark’s account, which can also be found on his instagram.

I have to say, without a shadow of a doubt,

This was one of my best days of the year so far. And no, that’s not because I had some time away from the family...

How did you find out about Joy Farms craft woodcarving and Art hub?

I found out about Adrian Joy and his wood carving courses at his farm in West Horsley at by tentatively investigating his spoon carving club Instagram/Guildfordspoonclub. Next thing I know, I’m on a full day’s course last weekend learning the ropes.

How did you feel during the day?

Adrian and Sarah made us feel so welcome, the coffee constantly bubbling away on the campfire and hearty soup for lunch. The teaching was really comprehensive, starting with which grips to use for which tool, the pros and cons of different woods (I was carving birch, some others willow), followed by a couple of practice runs, before getting started on a ‘blank’ (a piece of wood with a stencilled outline of a spoon).

It was so therapeutic working through every stage until we all had what resembled a wooden spoon.

After lunch, we then got to work on creating a blank of our own using axes (😉), the idea being that as well as having a finished spoon to take home, we’d also have the start of another.

To top it all off, I managed to come away without needing a plaster. If you’re anywhere in the south east and either like the idea of getting into wooden crafts or are stuck for a birthday present for someone that might, I can’t recommend the day enough.

Rather predictably I think I’ve caught the bug. It’s made me want to go out into the woods and find a lovely piece of timber to whittle into my next project.