“Serendipity often plays a part in the development of my work and the Barn Owl spoon is one such example. I had already started working on a design for a Barn owl spoon but my initial sketches were quite formal, heraldic and full of symmetry. However, one snowy morning before I had started carving the piece, I was sat in my carving shelter when a young Barn Owl landed on a rotting wooden post just a few metres away from me. We stayed for nearly 10 minutes, both buffeted by the cold winds and I watched as the young bird used its wings to steady itself. Through this encounter I came to realise that symmetry can make a subject seem static and unnatural and so I reworked the design, lowering one of the wings and forming the handle into the rotten post.”