Meet the spoon jam gang

peter follansbee

Flying in from Massachusetts, USA, Peter Follansbee is a legend of the green woodworking world. One of a small handful of artisans responsible for reintroducing traditional carving techniques to a world of woodworkers hungry for more back in the 1980s, Peter and his well read blog have become the source of inspiration for thousands of spoonerds, sloyders, carvers and crafters. As well as being a great teacher and craftsman of spoons, bowls, baskets, chairs, and 17th century oak furniture, Peter is also a devilishly good racanteur, prone to spinning yarns aplenty of a life spent carving things the natural way. His style of spoon carving is to go with the grain (which we really love!), making every spoon unique and chock full of beautiful chip carvings. We're really looking forward to welcoming Peter to these shores and introducing him to the wood we use and the people who carve it.

alexander yerks | new york state

Alexander Yerks, wood carver, photographer, and singer songwriter lives deep in the forest near Woodstock in the Catskills Mountains, New York. A Northeast native, Alex was born and raised on a mountain in Upstate New York and grew up wandering around the surrounding woods. Alex quickly learned to conjure up things he needed - instead of hopping in the truck, and driving miles to buy things for the home. Brought up to rely on his natural surroundings, he instinctively works with the natural resources of the forest, utilising the unique qualities of each tree, in his projects. Utensils and cups have always been the focus of his craft, creating functional and beautiful pieces with the capacity to enrich our lives and our homes. If you follow Alex on Instagram, you will be familiar with his fantastic and much copied style of spoons and kuksas. Fitting the bill of what makes an awesome carver (a fantastic designer, craftsman and teacher), we are really very excited about setting him loose on our native timbers. Bring on November!

Pete Trott has been making wooden spoons since he was nine. The experienced spoon carver from Victoria's Macedon Ranges teaches spoon carving at the Rundell & Rundell workshops in Kyneton and has played a big part in promoting traditional crafts through his involvement in the annual Lost Trades Fair. He's a great teacher and makes some awesome spoons which he sells and on occasions provides to TV shows as set dressings...if you watch Offspring then watch out for his spoons in Nina's kitchen! You can read more about Pete here, or you can follow his creations on Instagram at @von_trott.

Jeff Donne is a spoon carver from the far south coast of NSW. Living close to forests and coastal wilderness, Jeff draws inspiration for the spoons he makes from his surroundings. He's been carving for 20 years and recently returned from the UK where he carved and honed his skills with some of the world's best spoon makers, including Jarrod Dahl, Peter Follansbee, Barn the Spoon and Magnus Sundelin. Jeff teaches regular workshops in Pambula and takes his Spoon School all over Australia. Learn more here and here, or on Instagram at @thespoonsmith.

Brad van Luyt. On his instagram account, Brad says he's 'just another bloody left handed spoon carver', but we know he's much more than that! Brad, from Sydney, is a walking talking spoon carving machine with a passion for turning woody weeds into beautiful hand carved spoons. He's also a fabulous encyclopedia of botanical names, and possesses a fine selection of Hawaian shirts, which he has promised to wear at Spoon Jam. We're stoked to have Brad in the Spoon Jam gang, and he will be there at the Jam helping out folk who are new to spoon carving.

Jules Donne. Without Jules, Spoon Jam simply wouldn't happen. She is the brains and organising supremo behind the festival. Jules will be there making sure everyone is having an awesome time by offering advice on lots of carving tools and knife grips as well as providing a yummy morning tea for hungry carvers. Jules returned from Spoonfest a couple of years ago where she was lucky to score a place on a two and a half day workshop with Peter Follansbee. She'll also be taking care of the behind the scenes work, so those of you who bag a ticket will be hearing from her soon!