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A Welsh Lovespoon
This is an example of a Welsh lovespoon from the collection of Amgueddfa Cymru, or National Museum Wales. Due to a lack of historical documentation, the carver is unknown. The lovespoons in the museum’s collection date from 1667 to the present. The lovespoon shown here is carved from wood and its item number is “04-103.” There is no further information about the object. Image © National Museum of Wales
Thoughts on a lovespoon
Kate Hawes
The lovespoon is given as a gift by its carver to the one they desire. Its bowl is shaped for a mouth and its handle is carved with an argument for love. It is meant more for gaze than for grip. If accepted, which it may or may not be, depending on which way the wind blows, it might be hung on the wall or kept in a drawer. Or it may be put to use in queer and unintended ways that have not yet been imagined. Hopefully, the lovespoon will be taken as a sign of love. And in this hope the lovespoon will always exceed its form because love cannot be easily put to form, though the spoon carver has tried. If love is more liquid than solid, then the spoon tries to hold what spills over the rim of its small wooden bowl. It hopes for a future, even one that is messy. It tries its hardest with its tiny piercings, its dancing triangles, and its display of greenery all in wood.
Biography
Kate Hawes
They/Them/Theirs
Written by Maru López
Kate Hawes lives and works in the town of Beaversville, nestled in the Catskill Mountains.
For the last few years, they have gone back and forth between the town and New York City, driving the two hours into the city to teach classes in woodworking. Before the spring of 2020, they supported themselves for many years not only through teaching but by making wood furniture in a cooperative studio, located in the city, that they ran. Once the pandemic hit, and Kate started the MA in Critical Craft, they stopped commuting.
Beaversville is a small rural town full of trees and nature in which they take daily walks. In their walks through the woods they have become more aware of the complex lives of trees, and of the difference between woodland and the tended parks of the city. This awareness has led Kate to use pieces of wood they come across in the forest for their woodworking exploration. Kate came to the program to rekindle their love of writing—they hold a BA in poetry and creative writing. That interest has now developed into a research and reflection on the different ways of thinking and working with wood. As they continue delving deeper into their research, Kate hopes to return to teaching while finding more opportunities to continue writing about trees, wood, and woodworking.