Spoon Carving Intensive with Liesl (for all genders + non-binary makers)

Want to go deeper with spoon carving? Join us for six weeks of in-person workshops with Liesl Chatman to focus on the following:

• spoon design:  bowl shapes, handle shapes, crank profile, getting a bowl thin that feels great in your mouth; strength/durability.  

• axe work:  starting blanks with cranks/profile not plane view (!), axing out profiles for multiple spoons in one blank, axe body positions, hewing cuts, safety. 

• straight blade technique:  grips that work for all bodies/low hand strength/old hands; cutting short and long facets; knife design as connected to the cuts you can/can't make (but not crazy edge geometry or sharpening). 

• Curved blade technique: safety, wood grain, different sweep designs.

• Finishing cuts and decorative elements:  finials, neck/bowl transitions, facets, underside of bowl, e.g. rat-tails

Feel free to bring your favorite tools  or materials, but we will provide everything if you don't have a your own gear and wood yet!

* This class is limited to 8 individuals to prevent the spread of covid-19, do not attend class if feeling ill,  please inform us right away.  All students are required to wear a mask -see our covid safety protocol: here

This course has 2 free seats for the BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) community to take this course at cost for the materials fee of $35.  Fireweed  believes in wealth redistribution while our nation has still not offered proper reparations to marginalized communities.  

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Taught by Liesl Chatman

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Liesl Chatman is a spoon carver, kolroser, and teacher. Her kolrosed spoons have been exhibited at the American Swedish Institute and the Vesterheim Museum, and she has taught kolrosing, spoon carving, and given demonstrations at North House Folk School in Grand Marais MN, ASI and Fireweed in Minneapolis, the Spoon Gathering in Milan MN, Greenwoodfest in Plymouth MA, and the Greenwood Wrights’ Fest in Pittsboro NC. Her background as a handlettering artist and graphic journaler are large influences in her kolrosing and designs of spoon forms. She believes that carving and kolrosing spoons are crafts that are for the people. They are accessible, affordable, and heal the soul. Liesl cares just as strongly about the craft of teaching. Now retired, Liesl’s professional career focused on teaching and learning at all levels, building relationships, and assuring voice to each and every person gathered. Much to her surprise, she was named a White House Champion of Change for Women and Girls in STEM by the Obama Administration.

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Materials cost for this class is $35  and includes wood billet (enough to make 2 eating spoons or 1 large spoon), and use of tools in class: axe, chopping block, carving knives, silky saw, and cut proof gloves. 

See our cost transparency FAQ here

Now offering sliding scale pricing! We know the pandemic has affected people in different ways and want to keep woodworking accessible. Suggested admission is $260,  but we now have a $230 admission option and a pay it forward option.