Some spaces still, on the next one day willow basket making course in Manchester. It’ll be on Saturday 23rd February, and held at my new studio at Cakebread Workshop in Manchester.
We’ll be weaving round and oval baskets using a mixture of willows, to make a shape of your own design.
This Fri and Sat, 16th and 17th, I’ll be running a free workshop at Vegan Organic Network’s Fair in Manchester, at Cross Street Chapel, down the road from the Royal Exchange. There’ll be loads of food and vegan goodies, music and good vibes see ya there…
We’ll be making platters..space on the workshop will be limited, come early
It’s been a busy year, here’s a recent piece of work, a commission by University of Manchester to launch their 10,000 Actions environmental responsibility initiative. It’ll be on display on Oxford Road opposite Manchester Museum until Christmas.
Just finished…the leaves were made with pupils and I wove the tree directly onto the wall, it’s fixed into place with hooks, drilled into the wall, up a ladder in the rain…
This is an exciting start to the year for me, okay I know some of you actually started on the 1st January. In October last year, UPPERCASE Magazine invited me to be featured in their new issue which is just out. I’m really thrilled, it’s a fantastic and richly inspiring publication, based in Canada, and featuring creativity from everywhere. This quarterly’s theme is ‘creation and modification of surface’, check it out here – you can subscribe and they also stock it at Paperchase.
Issue 20
There are dates for courses I’m running Jan-Mar in basketry and willow sculpture. Living willow sculpture courses are held in winter during the dormant period. On these courses, we build a structure together and included in the cost is willow to make your own at home.
A new course for this year is making living willow numbers for the garden…
The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair begins this Friday at the Old Granada Studios in Manchester, the preview evening is Thursday. There will some 150 makers ranging from jewellry and textiles to ceramics and glass, and I’m really excited to be taking part.
I will be exhibiting new baskets made from willow worked on stoneware bases, so combining two loves.
I’ve been dyeing willow with fibre reactive dyes, I like the inconsistency of not being able to dye the whole length of the rod.
The one above alternates the dyed and buff rods, but in some baskets the arrangement is less formal.
I’m also excited and thrilled that Uppercase Magazine have invited me to be featured in the January issue. Uppercase Magazine is a quarterly Canadian publication – a magazine for the creative and the curious, and a rare joy in these digital times. Uppercase have very generously donated a year long subscription towards the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair’s Charity Prize Raffle – be sure to enter!
And hope to see you at the Fair!
There are new course dates for January to March 2014, and if you wish to buy a place for someone else as a present, then you can now buy a voucher from my Etsy.com shop, which is ALittleBitMorePlease.
I’ll be running a Willow Weaving Workshop again at this year’s Prestwich Clough Day. It’s always a popular event with an interesting range of stalls and entertainment, so if you’d like to have a taster at willow weaving, feel free to come by the stall…