I love the seasonality of what I do. Working so closely with the plants in my landscape I am constantly paying attention and watching which plants are in season for harvesting and which are about to be ready. As…
Coiling and Twining: Backyard Basketry Workshops Every time I teach a basketry workshop it becomes more and more clear that people want to learn how to go out into their backyards and harvest plants for basketry. As students from all…
This past weekend I had the pleasure of teaching my first ever basket weaving retreat. This year has been full of new steps for me, including beginning my first year of a multi-month basketry program as well as this wonderful…
How to get started with harvesting cattails for basketry? I've been getting lots of questions on the subject of harvesting cattails over the past few years. Cattails are one of my favorite materials to use for both coiled and twined…
The long weekend workshop I had the opportunity to teach at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts the first week of April has been one of my favorites so far. The key was space that having several days provided to us.…
I teach workshops at many different venues throughout the year, but there is something special about the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck. Partly it is the energy, the food, and just knowing that there are sheep, llamas, and…
This summer was my first working with trees for basketry. I set out to try several different species and learn what I could about selecting trees, removing the outer bark, stripping the inner bark, and preparing it for weaving. Overall…
Adventures in Bark Basketry After learning how to use bark in basketry during my internship in Asheville this winter my big project for this year became incorporating bark into my repertoire of natural materials. Although I processed already harvested bark and learned…
Hello everyone! I'd like to say that I've been tucked away doing crafts by the fireplace and have had no time for blogging, but I must admit that traveling, visiting family, and eating way too many Christmas cookies has occupied…