Hope in the Woods
New to arrive in-store and online is the Hope in the Woods collection of carved wooden utensils, handcrafted for twentytwentyone by designer and maker Luke Hope.
Hope in the Woods
Hope originally studied design and has only recently returned to this creative path after what he describes as a twenty-year detour.
“I was drawn in by the process initially, by the feeling of making: of working quietly, slowly, just me and the material. But it’s become much more…”
Hope’s handiwork produces a unique array of elegantly utilitarian wooden tableware distinguished by a compelling tactile quality.
Using a range of woods with subtle grain patterns in contrasting light and dark tones, Hope often works in an improvisational manner, drawing inspiration from the material and the way that light plays with form as it evolves during the making process.
Of his work, Hope says, “I love the calm of the process… working with organic materials, revealing natural form and creating and blending new lines and shapes.”
The collection he has created for twentywentyone ranges from slender long-stemmed spoons to robust scoops and serving utensils in richly toned walnut and blond sycamore wood.
All the wood Hope uses is responsibly sourced, whether foraged, recycled, reclaimed or sustainably grown.
The delicate lines and curves of these designs transform the most rudimentary objects into miniature sculptural forms – as pleasing to hold in the hand as they are to look at.
“Ultimately,” Hope says, “it’s about being part of the entire process – my relationship with the design, materials, tools and resulting objects and how these then make people feel. Be it an object they use or simply look at, I want people to be drawn into the forms. To stop and think, to feel a sense of wonder and connection.”
