Perhaps it was the influence of Philip K Dick. Maybe something else. I’m not entirely sure, but the urge to make an ichthys spoon was clear and I had to do it. The first was a teaspoon, also of cocobolo. The results pleased me, but the imperfections were slightly more pronounced than preferred.
A second attempt was made with a scrap of katalox that I was sure would struggle to amount to anything. But it was an improvement and became one of my favorites.
The spoon above is a katalox teaspoon, about 7-8 inches.
Some designs are more or less pleasant to craft. Something about the ichthys I find quite tolerable. Katalox is significantly harder than cocobolo and therefore more difficult to finish. Cocobolo is a chore, but katalox is stubborn. It takes a lot of effort to sand and it tends to chip more than cocobolo. But it’s still one of my favorites.
Since making those two spoons, the ichthys has also become a favorite design, when I’m inspired to spend more time on a project. I had a nice piece of cocobolo pre-cut to the shape of something between a spoon and spatula, with enough space on the end for a design. Weeks ago I had drawn an ichthys on it, then let it sit. Yesterday, I decided to bring it to life.
It’s about 16 inches and came out, I think, pretty well. I spent more time than expected aiming for symmetry and sanding the sharp angles. While it would be far from worth my time to sell it, it should make a solid gift some day, which was my intention. And it’s made to use, as a spoon or spatula, not just to look at. Functional art.