by Hannah Van Aelst | Aug 16, 2025 | Life as a basket maker, Uncategorized
I often get asked what I do in a day. My days vary considerably and change throughout the year. In January I spend my time harvesting the willow. We harvest everything by hand. February is spent grading the willow and tidying up the willow beds. Then I have a spring...
by Hannah Van Aelst | May 12, 2022 | Life as a basket maker, Uncategorized
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...
by Hannah Van Aelst | May 12, 2022 | Life as a basket maker, Uncategorized
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 or on YouTube. Would you like to become a basket maker? Check out...
by Hannah Van Aelst | Sep 10, 2021 | Life as a basket maker
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...
by Hannah Van Aelst | Sep 10, 2021 | Life as a basket maker
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...
by Hannah Van Aelst | Sep 10, 2021 | Life as a basket maker
I am not alone in that sometimes I do need a break! From weaving and grading in this instance. Come along as I go for a hike, make bread, plant willow in a new willow bed and you can see the very start of us building my new studio. ...
