
Jack Labanowski
bladesmith and green wood worker
I feel a real connection to nature and an awareness of our heritage when I make a bowl or knife - people have been using these same hand crafting skills for millennia and I love that sense of history and continuity .
There's a growing realisation of what is lost when you become disconnected from the natural world. We really don't need to use things made out of plastic. I get real satisfaction from bringing beautiful but practical products into people's homes - they can be used everyday, will look better the more you use them and will last for years.
Once you have eaten from a wooden spoon, or served a meal in wooden bowls and brought nature to your table, you will never turn back.
The Roving Wood Turner
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A short film showing how I make spoons and bowls - from choosing and shaping the timber, to turning it on a pole lathe and finishing it with traditional tools. There is something really special about having hand-crafted everything used in the journey of a piece of wood to a unique and functional artefact - I make the lathes and tools myself - and know each piece is made totally sustainably.
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By award-winning film maker