Willow Weaving Basketry: Friday Afternoon

Fridays, 12.30-4.30pm

Learn to create useful and beautiful willow baskets using traditional weaving techniques. Tutors Donald and Karen Spy, of Silverhare Baskets, will guide the class through the process of willow weaving using a selection of Fife and Somerset willows.

During this five week course, you will be taught all the basic skills needed to make simple round baskets using traditional ’stake and strand’ techniques. Each class will focus on a particular technique with time for practice and questions.

This class is limited to a maximum of 8 students and, while taking into account the individual student’s abilities, will cover techniques such as:

• Bases & design considerations/anatomy of a basket.
Round bases, tying in the slath, pairing weave, joining weavers, tension, and shaping.
• Upset & waling.
• Types of waling, 3 & 4 rod, pull down, chasing. Starting the upset, controlling uprights.
• Randing & side weaves 
Choice of willow, randing styles, French & English, controlling shape.
• Borders. Types of borders, track and rod borders, choosing the right border for your basket.
• Handles & catch-up 
Handle types, inset, bow, wrapped, solid. Recap on basket design decisions and choice of materials.

More Information

This course is suitable for beginners who want to try willow basketry for the first time, and also for people who have done a little basketry already and want to do more.

All materials and tools will be provided.

Please be aware that working with willow can be hard work for the hands and brain. The sessions are run at a relaxed pace with time for breaks, tea and coffee is available at the centre.

About the Tutors 

Donald and Karen Spy are a husband and wife team, working in partnership as Silverhare Baskets. Handcrafting beautiful and useful baskets and other items from willow grown in Fife and Somerset. Both Donald and Karen are arts graduates, who started basket making in January 2020.

Donald started making baskets after 28 years in the Fire Service. He spent much of his time during lockdown practicing basketry in their small garden studio in the countryside north of Cupar. He particularly enjoys learning new styles and techniques and loves the challenge of taking on commissions.

Karen, a professional member of the SSA, is a visual artist and shamanic practitioner. She inspired Donald to learn basketry in the first place, and soon joined forces to become a partnership. Karen loves to make the asymmetric style baskets, with their unique wooden handles.

Both are passionate about willow as a sustainable material, describing it as ‘a beautiful material; light, flexible and very strong. Perfectly sustainable; it can be grown as a coppice for many years. It sequesters carbon, encourages wildlife and bio-diversity, and is fully compostable’. They grow some willow in Fife and source the rest from Somerset. Donald and Karen use traditional techniques to make strong, useful and beautiful baskets with a variety of natural colours and textures.

They often have work for sale at local makers’ markets, accept commissions, and offer tuition for beginners and improvers, teaching regularly at Forgan Arts Centre in Newport-on-Tay. At different times of the year they hold workshops at various venues around Fife, and further afield, where people can make their own willow basket using traditional techniques. Email them to receive details of upcoming workshops, events and markets.

Website – www.silverharebaskets.co.uk

Instagram – @silverharebaskets