Thread: Portland International Airport (PDX) Carpet Spoon

Recently a fellow spoonmaker friend of mine from France flew into Portland and like so many before him, he took and posted a photo of his feet on the Portland Airport carpet.
I knew nothing about the popularity of posting ‘feet pics’ nor the history of the carpet. However I did like the carpet design, and could see in its design, some flowing curvy lines that I thought could possibly be used as the framework for a spoon design.
With that in mind, I transposed the lines onto a piece of Camphor Laurel wood, cut the shape out, carved out the bowl area, refined the ‘lines’, sanded it smooth, added the carpet colours, and finally sealed the finished spoon with a hard durable foodsafe oil.
Only since finishing the spoon and sharing it on Facebook, have I become aware of the Portland Airport carpet phenomenon and the following it has. It is huge – at least by carpet standards.
Portland International Airport carpet has become arguably the most photographed carpet in the world. The original carpet was installed in 1987 and received a positive reception by Portland residents and airport visitors, eventually reaching "local icon" status. In recent years multiple social media accounts were dedicated to it (Facebook – The-Carpet-at-Portland-Airport) and more than 20,000 pictures were posted to its official Instagram hashtag, #pdxcarpet. It became the trend for airport visitors to take pictures of their feet on the carpet. The fame or notoriety of PDX carpet grew exponentially when the decision was taken in 2015 to replace it with a newly designed carpet. And since it has been replaced, the tradition continues . . . . . . PDX carpet designs have been replicated or incorporated into hundreds of items from clothing, to shoes etc etc . . . . . and now a spoon!
Jeff
ETSY Shop - SpoonsByJeff
Facebook: Jeff Fraser - Wood Turner