Deborah originally trained in fine art and after a long career as an artist and a writer of craft books she has, over the last few years, dedicated herself to the curious art of spoon carving.
She has always been interested in tools and materials and is fascinated by the usefulness of making..... for practical, emotional as well as psychological reasons.
She is interested in the endless possibilities of carving a spoon; such a modest object but one that embraces style, form, function, tradition and aesthetics.
She has made a number of videos with Zed Outdoors and this as well as attending, learning and teaching at many spoon-carving events has given her an opportunity to connect with an inspiring, generous and international spoon community.
Like many spoon-carvers she is inspired by the natural world and loves to investigate different species of shrub and tree, from garden, field, woodland and street... and to enjoy the magical discovery of splitting a branch and seeing the colour and grain within.
The process of transformation from tree to spoon is a valuable journey with so much to learn on the way. Deborah’s practice gives her a valuable sense of stillness in a challenging world.
Spoon-carving enhances and provokes a lifelong interest in the value and meaning of making, from the initial impulse within to the realisation of that imaginative process in the form of a spoon. It’s a kind of magic.
Deborah is the founder of the Highgate Spoon Union and a proud member of the Gloucestershire and Friends Spoonclub. At Spoonfest 2019 she co-curated the 'Spoons are good for you' exhibition which explored the therapeutic and transformational aspects of spoon-carving.
