August Meeting

August Meeting
Thursday, August 14th at 6pm
Duffy Auditorium, Brescia University
717 Frederica St.

Our upcoming meeting will be a basket weaving demonstration from Vicki Hast. She plans to talk about natural materials in basketry, demo a willow basket and hopefully a poplar bark basket and add some Siberian iris cordage that everyone can try their hand at. Vicki plants, harvests, and forages all her material to create her stunning pieces. She will also have some items for sale.

From the Artist:
Vicki Hast

Weaving and growing willow keeps me linked to nature and the environment. Harvesting your own willow for basket making is very gratifying. Cultivated willow is grown exclusively for basketmaking. The stools with their rods shooting up from them are cut to the ground in the winter. New rods will spring up for the next years harvest. The rods are sorted by variety and size to later be made into a basket. Varieties are grown for their color and length of rod. A thicker rod may be used for a frame or ribs while a longer and thinner rod is used for weaving. The color of the cultivated willow is natural. The smell lingers for years. Basket making is an ancient craft brought on by necessity. Willow basketry is a very European craft based on the materials available to weave. Willow was used in many aspects of everyday life and many different willow baskets were needed. Immigrants to America brought their willow cuttings and basket traditions with them. They soon planted their “sally bed” which yielded many varieties of cultivated willow. Little has changed through the years in the process of growing and weaving willow. I have added my own dimension to the very traditional aspects of willow basketmaking by adding Inkle woven straps. These straps are woven on an Inkle loom using 8/4 cotton rug warp. This willow gathering basket would fit into any long rifle culture for use or display. My hope is that you can enjoy this basket and learn to appreciate the craft of willow basketry and Inkle weaving.

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