Firstly I'd like to say thankyou to everyone who commented on my last post, and left lovely messages farewelling Freya. It feels very different now there are only 3, and the others have been unusually quiet....realising something is different perhaps.
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I went to a basketmaking workshop yesterday. There were 10 of us, and we were all new to it. I've wanted to learn basketmaking for ages, and since I'm also booked into a week long workshop next month, I thought it was a good opportunity to get a feel for it.
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| These were all made by the tutor, Jill Bose, who has been making baskets for many years. |
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| This is one of my 'efforts'...now that it's dried, I can see where it needs more work. |
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| My other creation. I could damp this again and push it into a more upright shape, but I quite like it like this. The orangey-brown leaves are philodendron, with the lighter coloured banana leaf woven through as an accent. |
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This is the very beginning, getting the base flat. Dried banana leaf is woven around spokes of thin canes that fall from the palm tree after fruiting.
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Ripe berries on the tree
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Stems dry out after the berries are finished, and the whole thing drops from the tree...to be collected and made into baskets. An interestingly sculptural piece on it's own.
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| Getting the left to right and behind cross over action right |
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| The flat base has to be held firmly in your lap to start the shaping of the sides. I could've used a couple more pairs of hands at times. |
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| Lajla's finished basket. Despite being given the same materials and instructions the finished baskets all looked very different, as we added out own touch. |
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| Jill, the tutor, starting the framework for the large open weave basket |
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| Hard at work |
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| A banana leaf basket made by the tutor |
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We shared good food
Now that I have some idea of what to do, I'm really looking forward to my April workshop, to see how different the two tutors are and hopefully learn different styles and techniques. For this workshop, Jill used easily obtainable tropical plants, whereas the plants and fibres used in the next workshop will be cool temperate climate plants, and so will be very different.
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i can see you're really going to love this basketry course, one can use almost anything and freeform at will.
ReplyDeleteYou're right Kaite. My tutor at the next workshop is Virginia Kaiser, she does very different, but just as interesting, baskets and vessels. I should have lots of good things to show you when we meet.
ReplyDeleteNanette, I love the organic feel of these baskets. Making something beautiful and unique from earth's bounty. Can't wait to see where you go from here. xo
ReplyDeleteHi Peggy, I really liked working with the leaves and twigs, understanding their properties and how best to treat them, getting a feel for them, and how they wanted to be placed. I'm really looking forward to the next steps now.
ReplyDeleteHi Nannette just love that you are using freely available twigs and leaves to convert to such beautiful things. I too watch to see your next creation.
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