Waiting for Spring

Rachel Shaw

We fell in love with these beautiful little wooden birds, lovingly whittled by Rachel Shaw in a whole host of recycled timbers that are sourced from all over the country.

Rachel has had an amazing portfolio career – a graphic designer, brand strategist, interior architect who began her career behind-the-scenes in the film industry and is now a self-confessed wood whittling addict!

After a short lesson late last year, Rachel’s been totally hooked and has been carving these divine tiny birds, tiny bud vases and bowls – each one-of-kind.  Experimenting with different salvaged timbers and natural finishes, Rachel has been making Mid-Century/Scandi-style pieces that feel beautiful to touch, and smell.  At the end of each day, she looks forward to putting down the computer mouse and pick up a knife and get whittling.

Q & A with Rachel

Q. Describe what it's like to work with wood and why you like it?

I love everything about working with wood. Right from the very first stage of selecting the right pieces to work with. Quite often the wood I use is salvaged, found in someone’s old garden shed, off cuts from their own past projects, broken fence posts or old furniture. Walking into these sheds is like walking into my very own Aladdin’s cave, all I see is treasure.

I love that working with wood can be a challenge. Taming the grain and working out which detail of the wood is to go where. The smell of my workshop and the freshly sawn pieces. Not to mention very satisfying noise of carving tiny chips with a knife. Taking something straight from nature that is quite hard and rough and turning it into a piece so smooth and sculptural is very special.

Q. In this world that has gone mad with consuming mass-made products, what is it about these special handcrafted items you make that make them so popular? I note that everything on your website is sold out!

I see myself as an artist and I feel like people see my pieces as little one-off sculptures, they know that they can’t just go and pick one up from the gift shop.

My customers are amazing, they patiently wait for their Little Birdie to arrive knowing that they will receive something that no one else in the world will have. I had a lot of orders from people in Melbourne during their extended lockdown and I know some were given as gifts just to let people know they’re being thought of in this time. There is a Scandi tradition of giving little carved birds called Comfort Birds which resonates with me.

Maybe there’s something in the anticipation of seeing what character it has or what it feels like to hold. I often get messages and photos from people telling me their parcel arrived and it’s made their day. Some people have started collecting my birds to make their very own flock.

I started to make dry bud vases because I’m a collector of natures tiny gifts that I find on morning walks with my dog. Dried seed pods and gum nuts are my favourite display for styling the photos for my online shop and home arrangements.

I work full time as a graphic and interior designer so my carving time is limited which means I only do a handful of shop updates a year, this makes my pieces sort after. My Instagram and site subscribers are always the first to know when the updates are coming and all the pieces are usually sold within 10 mins. Then it’s back to the workshop to start on a new batch

Q. What's next for you - what will you make next?

My dream is to be a full time carver. I’m working on new shapes for bowls, vases and birds and I’d love to work them into an exhibition of some kind.

View Rachel’s work

→ waitingforspring.com

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