Welcome to the online version of Woodcraft for Wellbeing, an exhibition that explores the connection between carving, nature, and mental health.
Woodcraft for Wellbeing is an immersive, nature-based practice using woodcraft to encourage mindfulness, reduce anxiety, and support positive mental health. Through meditative carving techniques, we help people build confidence, reduce stress, and deepen their connection with the natural world and their community.
The Woodcraft for Wellbeing Collection
A Simple Spoon Nourishes Body & Soul
Eating with a wooden spoon is one of the most nourishing things. The spoon nourishes the soul while the food nourishes the body and mind.
It’s more than function — it’s comfort, memory, and care. A living story that tells the life of a tree, and the carver who shaped it.
Almost everyone has a favourite spoon — often not because it’s perfect, but because of its story. People light up when they talk about them: the shape, the feel, the person who made it.
Some of us can’t stop collecting them. We find spoons in markets, workshops, and forests. Simple, carved, wild — they feel like talismans.
There’s something about spooncarving that draws kind, generous people. The community is welcoming, grounded in trees, craft, and the search for beauty.
A carved spoon reminds us that beauty doesn’t need to shout. It can sit quietly in your hand, ready to nourish.
The Process & Tools
Carving an eating spoon is a dance in three dimensions. You hollow, refine, and shape — following the grain, the curves, and the balance.
It begins with axing out a blank. Then the bowl is carved, the handle refined, and the form shaped until it fits the hand and mouth just right.
It’s a process of transformation. From a branch to a daily companion. From bold axe strokes to the finest shavings in the space of an hour or three.
Wellbeing: Focus & Flow
Spoons are small, but they ask a lot from us — focus, patience, and precision.
In return, they offer something rare: flow. That feeling when time disappears, hands move with purpose, and breath slows.
The satisfaction comes not just from the final shape, but from finding the balance between beauty and function.
It’s one of the most human things: carving something useful by hand, cooking with it, and sharing it with someone you care about.
Cup (Kuksa): A Craft of Remembrance
“You say nothing new is made — do not worry about it.
With the wood from a tree, make a cup from which your sister can drink.”
This is my adaptation of a poem by Antonio Machado:
“With the mud of the earth, make a cup from which your brother can drink.”
It spoke to something deep in me — the longing to make something with my hands, to pour care and meaning into an object.
For years I worked in mental health recovery, supporting others through creativity. But I hadn’t yet found my own craft.
I thought I “wasn’t creative.” That I didn’t have the skill.
But craft, like meaning, isn’t something you’re born with. It’s something you practise. It’s built slowly. Shaped over time.
This kuksa was carved in memory of my sister, who struggled with her mental health from the age of 18 until her death at 36. It holds grief, healing, and the wish to make something beautiful in her honour.
To carve an everyday object with care — to turn it into an offering — is an act of remembrance. This is how I begin to find my own way of belonging: by carving local wood into vessels of meaning. This cup is for you, dear sister.
The Process & Tools
Hollowing a kuksa begins with physical work. Cutting through bark and growth rings with adze and gouge reveals the history of the tree — each ring a year of life.
As the shape emerges, the rhythm changes. The rough carving gives way to smoother strokes — the gouge starts to sing.
On the outside, the axe removes everything that isn’t a bowl. A hook knife refines the surface until only the cup remains — just what’s needed, nothing more.
Wellbeing & Remembrance
Carving a kuksa can be cathartic. It starts with strength and ends with care. There’s release in the shaping — a way to honour the past while making something new.
The metaphor is simple but strong: removing what no longer serves, to reveal what matters most.
A cup, made for someone else. A vessel of grief, remembrance, and love.
About The Woodcraft for Wellbeing Project
Woodcraft for Wellbeing began as an NHS-commissioned service for people facing mental health challenges.
It’s now part of Woodcrafters CIC, a social enterprise on a mission to bring the therapeutic benefits of craft and nature to those who need it most.
🌿 Crafting Connections & Building Community
🌿 Fostering Mental Health & Wellbeing
🌿 Honouring Nature & Promoting Nature Based Crafts
Want to Learn More?
🔗 Join a workshop
🔗 Donate or support our work
🔗 Train as a Woodcraft for Wellbeing Facilitator