![Paul 'Polly' Boyer carving in his custom built shed. Picture by James Parker Paul 'Polly' Boyer carving in his custom built shed. Picture by James Parker](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/205490442/f9aec0f2-2748-4683-8adc-d5fbd1a82396.jpg/r0_0_4032_3024_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
If it were not for a piece of wood, a carving knife and a vision, Paul 'Polly' Boyer would not be here, and he wants to help the next generation to understand this artisan craft once more.
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Balancing precariously on the edge of an old beaten up chair covered in sawdust, Polly holds a piece of wood in his left hand, his carving knife in his right.
"You've done it now...I've got a spoon in my hand, I'll be hard to talk to," he said, shaving angles in the handcrafted kitchen utensil.
!["You're not going to stop sawdust in a shed like this," Polly said with a laugh, replying on the wind as his natural house keeper. "You're not going to stop sawdust in a shed like this," Polly said with a laugh, replying on the wind as his natural house keeper.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/205490442/ba745f2a-7bed-4996-a8e7-6b056e9f7ccd.jpg/r0_376_4032_2643_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Once I start, I'll do that bit there and then the other bit, then I stop talking. It just seems to short circuit all your brain channels into this.
"We reclaim trees, [we] don't [just] cut them down. Blackwood, poplar, red cedar, it just depends on what woods we get hold of," Polly said.
"The chips that I made in summer and the offcuts, they dry out and I use them in there to boil the kettle and keep me warm during winter. The whole idea is to recycle everything.
![A hand-built reciprocating springpole lathe is nestled on the traditional end of the workshop, using ropes and a treadle for turning wood, while other antique tools find home. A hand-built reciprocating springpole lathe is nestled on the traditional end of the workshop, using ropes and a treadle for turning wood, while other antique tools find home.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/205490442/a446639a-8af2-4654-a4a0-697cbc077d38.jpg/r0_376_4032_2643_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"We try very hard not to make waste. It's all for something. Theoretically, there's no waste. It's either firewood, or it's potting mix, or it's mulch."
After purchasing his property in Towamba in 2005, Polly sat down with a glass of red and began building the architectural blueprints in his mind.
Prior to meeting Rachel Clarke eight years ago, he said previous partners were blind to the vision.
![Once footpath shaved wood has rotted down, it becomes potting mix. Old dry tea bags dipped in kerosine makes a great fire starter, and vegetable scraps go to the chickens. Polly and Rachel produce close to zero waste. Once footpath shaved wood has rotted down, it becomes potting mix. Old dry tea bags dipped in kerosine makes a great fire starter, and vegetable scraps go to the chickens. Polly and Rachel produce close to zero waste.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/205490442/adc3d76e-809b-4e87-8f1d-6d25c4d37c43.jpg/r0_493_4032_2760_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"And then this woman came along and she went, 'Oh wow, you know we could do that.'
"And I said, 'Righto, get out of my head, where did you see that?' Because we both started thinking the same way," Polly said.
If it weren't for spoon carving, Polly said he wouldn't be here.
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"I'd been unwell for about six years, I'd had a bad run in with the black dog. I'd been a musician for many years, working bands and entertaining. That stopped.
"Mum always said I had busy hands. That stopped.
"That shed, all the tools were rusty, there were mud wasps in everything.
"And then I started getting better, I found Rachel, and then I found spoon carving."
![Polly has also reworked and recycled timber from a bridge and railings to build a dining room table, and further wood panels are used in the kitchen. Polly has also reworked and recycled timber from a bridge and railings to build a dining room table, and further wood panels are used in the kitchen.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/205490442/4a7f4811-5b9e-4bc0-8509-e308c5093dff.jpg/r0_376_4032_2643_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Having lost six years, Polly felt he had to "catch up". He turned to Rachel and said, "I'm going out to carve, I may be some time."
"My hands weren't working right, whatever connects my hands to my head or used to connect my hands to my head, had atrophied. I had to build up those neural pathways again. It was very frustrating," he recalled.
After 18 months, Polly returned with the spoon he had envisioned, in his hand.
"I've done it. I've actually carved what I've seen in my head," he said.
![Rachel has dreams of becoming a chair maker; a bodger. Picture by James Parker
Rachel has dreams of becoming a chair maker; a bodger. Picture by James Parker](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/205490442/99cd0f3f-0e63-473b-ba6b-2d2990a15864.jpg/r502_466_4032_2921_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Rachel pushed out her chair and disappeared into the house before returning with a thin wooden ladle.
"My one olive spoon. That's the first one he brought home and he said, 'It's not very good.' And I just went, 'It's absolutely brilliant!' I could see so much potential," she lovingly said with a smile, proud of her Polly.
Polly will be teaching at Discovery Park in Eden on May 20-26, for the Marmalade Session - a spoon carving camp for beginners to advanced. For more information: click here
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