If you’re in the neighborhoods of Asheville, NC or Rockport, ME, there are two exhibitions coming up that may interest you.

Opening first is Spoonin’: A Showcase of Handcrafted Spoons that will run from 14 September through 13 October at Grovewood Gallery in Asheville, NC.   Greenwood carving will be well represented, including spoons from Curtis Buchanan, Tim Manney, and Dawson Moore.  The show should offer plenty of inspiration, with a diverse range of styles, methods, and materials — including hand-hammered metal.  Check out the full list of participants at the link above.

I’ve sent a few recently completed spoons, including the one in the top photo that came from a neighborhood Norway maple branch that was bent and twisted just so.  14 3/8″ long, 2″ wide.  Here’s the backside:

Here are the other spoons I’ve sent:

This long slender ladle (17 1/2″ long, 3 1/8″ wide) is from the same Norway maple tree.  All of these spoons are from crooks with the fibers flowing through the handle and bowl, and Norway maple, though not as tough as sugar maple, proved to be plenty strong, harder than cherry.  The combination of the flow of the fibers and the hardness of the wood allowed for a thin strong bowl.

The one below (13 5/8″ long, 3 5/8″ wide) came from a big cherry crook.  I walked out onto a fallen cherry tree over an icy creek last winter to collect it, so I’m glad it worked out!  The Latin Fabas indulcet famas means “Hunger sweetens the beans.”

Here it is the lettering turned right-side-up:

I was able to finish a couple spoons from that neighborhood rhododendron I mentioned a few posts ago.  Here is an eating spoon, 7 1/8″ long and 1 5/8″ wide.

And the final spoon for the Spoonin’ Exhibition is this lettered server, also from a rhododendron crook.  7 5/8″ x 3 1/4″.

The second exhibition is Contemporary Greenwood and will run from 20 September 2019 through the end of the year in Rockport, ME at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship’s Messler Gallery.  At the link above, you’ll see it listed as an upcoming exhibition for now.  Additional information and a full list will be posted eventually there, but I know there will be work from some familiar Greenwood Fest folks such as Pete Galbert, Amy Umbel, Jarrod Dahl, and Curtis Buchanan.

I’ll be sending a couple pieces that I’ve posted about earlier this year here on the blog:

The walnut bowl above started as a quarter-log split.  I wrote about it in this post.

The cherry bowl above came from a crook with lots of character.  I wrote about it in this post.

So, those two will be on their way to Maine this week.  If you’re able to make it to either of these exhibitions, there will be work there from many folks.  Pieces you can see directly with your own eyes — and I’m hoping — feel with your hands.  Of course, the gallery rules trump my thoughts, but, for what it’s worth, you have my permission to touch the bits of tree I’ve sent.