Wooden bowls and spoons are one of the earliest tools to eat with. They wereused world wide. There are many regional styles of spoons from throughout the world. Some were very simple just a shallow dished piece of wood to the ornamental carved “love spoon” used in earlier courting rituals. As for bowls, many of the early bowls were carved then after the Iron Age in Europe the spring pole lathe was used to “turn” bowls. In Europe about 2500 years ago lathes were known and used for wood turning. Bowl turning was highly developed by 600b.c. by some craftsman. One of the characteristics of a pole lathe turned bowl are the fine tools marks left by the tools on the surface of the wood. There was a time when these two items were the bulk of one’s worldly possessions.
I hand carve my spoons from 
a variety of local woods from here in northern Wisconsin. Yellow birch, buckthorn, cherry are some of my favorites. I am inspired by the Scandinavian design of spoon carving in which the bowl of the spoon lays with in the grain of the wood. I search for natural crooks and curves to achieve this. Another aspect of this style is a spine or keel which runs from the back of the bowl up the neck and into the handle. All of these features create a very strong spoon.
The bowls I make are either carved or turned on a spring pole lathe. I use a variety of local woods and sometimes decorate them with chip carved designs. I generally leave the tool marks on either the carved bowls and turned bowls.
Both the bowls and spoons are oiled with an edible “food grade” oil. I prefer linseed, walnut or tung as these will actually harden. These are not purchased at the hardware store as these oils unless “food grade” have heavy metal drying agent in them.
The spoons and bowls I make are meant to be used and will last if properly cared for a lifetime or more.
Please look at the photo gallery for more pictures