Blog
How to start growing willow for basket making.
How to start growing willow for basket making. A question I get asked a lot is how do I get started growing willow? How much area do I need to plant? What varieties would you recommend? Let’s dive into all of that here. But firstly I want to say I do not have...
Winter willow work
What do I do in winter? Working with willow is very season dependent. Winter starts with the harvest. After that the long process of grading willow, sorting by size, starts. This winter I also planted some longer stemmed willow for pollarding, and I got the...
How to make a living willow structure
How to make a living willow structure? Watch as I take you through my process step by step. https://youtu.be/3fAIxsYqDjg
Coppicing vs. pollarding willow for basket making
I often get asked about why we leave some of our willow on higher stems (pollarding). In this video I dive a little deeper into that question. https://youtu.be/UqqdxpZ60Pg
Moving into my new studio
Moving into my new studio has been such a joy! The space is beyond amazing and it is fun to see how the physical space has started to influence my work, in a good way... Watch the video here https://youtu.be/s5kM3CBMm0w
A love letter to willow
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A walk through the willow beds (September 2021)
Come along as I walk through my willow beds and point out some issues with pests and diseases now visible, my thoughts on how to manage willow and willow varieties. https://youtu.be/hadKk5txBYE
Settling into my new work space, new work positions and thoughts on the inner critic.
As I settle into my new studio you can see me here make new work, try different working stations and listen to some thoughts on the inner critic. What do you think? https://youtu.be/f21cTi5bL2Q
Building my dream studio
I have been a full time basket maker for about 10 years but I have never had my own work space. I have worked from the kitchen table, from the willow shed and a corner of the tunnel and moved between all of those over the years depending on the weather, space and...
How to prepare willow for basket making
The one question I get asked the most is on how to prepare willow. Does it need to be dry before weaving, how to make it flexible again, how to soak, and what about steaming? In this video I go deep into all of those questions. Time stamps are provided in the video...
