Have I been whittling since moving to Devon?

That was asked by friends from the Welcombe Hills in Stratford-upon-Avon when we messaged over Facebook the other week.

I suspect I will never be able to stop carving and there is no way I would stop when I have loads of wood and in particular loads of spalted beech readily available. Some examples below.

 Spalting is the effect caused by a fungal attack on a tree. The action of the fungal growth inside the tree can produce sought-after colours and patterns. Beech produces some of the best but other trees are good such as birch.

 When taking a log for carving, the spalting can usually be seen in the end grain but predicting the way the final artefact will be coloured and patterned is difficult. Sometimes the spalting will result in symetrical patters. At other times you can get more of a splash. See the two spoons above. Both are attractive I think.

 Maggie showed me a Country File episode where someone was using the end grain of spalted wood to create moths/butterflies. The technique involves using a bandsaw to slice thin pieces of end grain and bookending them to create matching patterns on the 2 wings.

 With the right piece of spalted wood, the end result can be amazing. All of these were bonded to a simple body using epoxy resin, finely sanded and finished with varnish to bring out the colours.

 Below is a selection of other efforts. To the left are 'shrink pots' from birch and one from beech, spoons are to the right and behind the spoons is a spalted beech 'kuksa'.

A shrink pot is of scandinavian origin I think. It involves hollowing out a log so that it forms a tube with no bottom, forming a groove just a few mm inside one end and inserting a wooden disc to fit tightly inside. When the log dries it shrinks and the disc is squeezed into the groove forming a tight base. Lids are fashioned form other wood and usually have a decorative handle attached. I quite like the Jarvis heads.
A kuksa definiately is scandinavian. It's a traditional wooden drinking vessel. There are traditional styles/designs. Mine's not one of them.

Of course I still whittle whilst walking the dogs when out and about. I also sit quietly in our wood and whittle away. Well, who wouldn't?