CARVING beauty
WOODWORKER CAROL RUSSELL TRANSFORMS SOLID PIECES OF TIMBER INTO ELEGANT AND TACTILE WOODEN SPOONS
There weren’t many female furniture makers when Carol Russell first started her woodworking career three decades ago. “I was a lone woman, but now there are lots of us,” says Carol. Being vastly outnumbered in her chosen field wasn’t the greatest challenge Carol faced in following her passion – she’d grown up with four brothers, as well as a sister, so was used to working alongside men. “The bigger issue was that I couldn’t find many factories that worked with solid timbers,” she explains. At the time, the trend gravitated towards using MDF and other composite materials for cheaper, easier furniture making.
Four years ago Carol decided to get back to basics and focus on something pure and simple, effectively downsizing her craft. “I just started playing with spoons and it was like a veil lifting,” she recalls of the moment she first picked up a knife to start whittling a wooden spoon. “It really is like meditation. It’s that repetitive movement of a sharp tool on wood that draws you in.”
Working from a rustic studio beneath the cosy Queenslander she shares with her husband, Nick, and their son, Hugo, 14, Carol’s side project soon became a full-time venture, and she now runs spoon-carving workshops across south-east Queensland. “A big part of teaching, for me, is the effect handmaking things has on people,” she says. “I love seeing people’s traumas of the day melt away.” Bringing extra joy to her craft, Carol also runs special workshops for disadvantaged people of all ages, to concentrate on something new. “I’ve worked with kids with difficulties, and using your hands as a way to focus your mind can be really remarkable,” she explains.
Working with a few hand tools and a single piece of timber is far removed from her days in the furniture trade, with its structured measurements and fine lines, but producing a one-off creation from the heart has proved to be much more rewarding. “Spoons are such basic objects, but they have that tradition of generosity and sharing, so they’re symbolic,” she says. “In medieval times you’d carve your own spoon and that would be one of the possessions you’d always carry. In Wales, if a man really wanted to marry a girl, he would have to carve this amazing spoon and present it to her to prove he was worthy, capable and steadfast, and able to stick with something. It was always very intricate.”
“It’s my challenge to see how much I can do with just a knife and a chisel – and then there’s that desire to do the best I can” ~ CAROL
Through social media, Carol has also discovered many like-minded people all over the world, and connecting with them – and comparing notes and methods – has amplified her enthusiasm for the traditional craft.
Hours tend to slip away easily when Carol is in her happy place carving unique woodworks; and all that time for reflection has taught her the most vital of lessons. “People are more important than things,” she says. “Sometimes you have to know when to put the tools down and give your loved ones some attention.”