basketmaker » Willow Basketmaker

NBO exhibit at The Bascom

Jun 212010

Katherine was recently invited to send some of her work to an exhibit of National Basketry Organization members at The Bascom, a non-profit center for the visual arts in Highlands, North Carolina. The Bascom art center is located on 6 acres of beautiful pastoral land with buildings that encompass museum quality galleries and art studios for instruction. Artistic Director Kaye Gorecki worked with NBO President Michael Davis to select a few basketmakers to showcase in a small exhibit June 12-July 18. Katherine was honored to be chosen along side some outstanding artists that included Jackie Abrams, JoAnn Kelly Catsos, JoAnn Russo, Donya Stockton, and Pamela Zimmerman.

An exhibit of contemporary basketmakers should be a nice compliment to another work at The Bascom. Beginning June 2, sculptor Patrick Dougherty is constructing a site specific work on The Bascom grounds. He has made his unique structures all over the world. Katherine had the opportunity to volunteer a couple of days on a work he made in Lynden, Washington a few years ago.

Katherine only had a week’s notice to decide what to send. Unfortunately there was no time to make anything specifically for the exhibit, so she picked out these two baskets to send. The oval market basket or “panier á jour” is woven primarily with our farm “‘brown” (with bark) willow and “buff” (peeled) willow for the fitching. It is a traditional French design, but woven with the “browns” rather than all peeled. The small square purse is an original design woven from willow with a braided leather strap. Katherine hopes viewers will appreciate these functional forms of contemporary basketry.

Post Script: Well there are good experiences and there are learning experiences…

This is how our box looked when it returned from the exhibit. The Bascom sent it back by UPS ground. When we opened the box we saw that the ‘panier á jour’ had been packed incorrectly – upright instead of sideways and without the cardboard baffles like when we shipped it by FedEx. The Bascom’s exhibitions registrar replied to our complaint “I want to assure you that it was not done through carelessness.” Really? It seemed like a double dose of carelessness from the packer and UPS. And we end up with a basket that is decidedly tweaked in shape.
Most of our boxes only go one way – direct to the customer and we’ve never had a basket damaged in shipping. I guess we should have been reading the helpful info over on Ask Harriete about packing your artwork for delivery to and return from exhibits. Chalk it up as a learning experience.

June newsletter

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Jun 162010

News from Dunbar Gardens June 2010

Upcoming Events

Edmonds Arts Festival: June 18-20, popular festival featuring 240 juried artist exhibitors, music, performing arts, children’s activities, wine bar and bistro in downtown Edmonds on Fathers’ Day weekend. Katherine will be selling her baskets in the Plaza area for traditional arts and crafts. Her location is spot P5 on the map which you can find on the Edmonds Arts Festival website. The weather forecast looks good for this weekend!

Art of the Garden: July 8-August 19, Arts Council of Snohomish County Gallery located in the historic Monte Cristo in Everett at 1507 Wall Street. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 10-5, and Saturdays from 11-4. Katherine will have several baskets in this show featuring artwork that enhances the garden or brings the garden into the home.

Anacortes Arts Festival Arts at the Port Juried Exhibition: August 6-8, Exhibition entitled “Next” juried by Esther Luttikhuizen showing a diverse mix of work in fine crafts, painting, sculpture, and photography. Katherine is excited to have four pieces selected for the show. There is an opening reception July 30, 5:30-8pm when you can see the work, meet artists, and enjoy wine, food and music. You can see a slide show of all the works in the show on the Anacortes Arts Festival website.

News

Katherine was invited to submit her work to two current exhibits of basketry in other parts of the country. She sent two baskets to an exhibit of selected basketmakers from the National Basketry Organization at The Bascom, a nonprofit center for the visual arts in Highlands, North Carolina (June 12-July18). She sent one piece to an exhibit of basketmakers at the Philip Dickel Basketry Museum at the Amana Colonies in Iowa (June 1-October2).

Willow Basketmaking Classes with Katherine Lewis

Classes are two days, from 9am to 5pm. Everyone will leave with a finished basket. Class size is limited to 10. Cost is $170 per student which includes materials. There is a registration form on the website. Or you can send us your contact info (name, address, email, telephone) along with a $50 deposit per class session. Last minute sign ups should email baskets@dunbargardens.com for availability. These classes are all in the Mount Vernon area at Dunbar Gardens or just down the road from us at the McLean Road Fire Hall meeting room.

June 26-27: Gathering basket, round or oval laundry basket

July 13-16: four day in-depth class

These two class sessions are currently filled. You are welcome to add your name to a waiting list without a deposit. There are still spaces in the August class which will be at Dunbar Gardens.

August 16-17 (Monday-Tuesday): Scallomed projects

This class provides baskets at all weaving levels. We will weave the base on a hoop frame, and scallom on the stakes. The oval shopper is the simplest of the shapes, great for beginners. The magazine basket is a skinny long oval basket with a lengthwise handle, making it great for magazines or books next to your favorite chair. The square basket is great for shopping, and is a chance for those with previous willow experience to learn square shaping and square border corners. Students can choose from a selection of side weaves. Experience with willow is helpful, and comfort using a knife is essential for this class.

Classes at other locations

October 21-23: Tidal Twinings, Columbia Basin Basketry Guild Fall Retreat in Rockaway, Oregon.

Katherine will be teaching two classes at the CBBG retreat this year. Willow bicycle basket on Thursday & Friday and a Berry picking basket on Saturday. You can be a member of either the CBBG or the Northwest Basket Weavers Guild to attend this fun event. See their website for details and contact info.

Facebook: Dunbar Gardens has a Facebook page. If you are a Facebook user, check out the photos and postings there.

Thanks!

Katherine & Steve

Tidal Twinings 2010 brochure

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Jun 062010

The Tidal Twinings 2010 Fall Basketry Retreat brochure came in the mail this past week. There is a photo of Katherine’s zig-zag weave shopper class from the 2009 retreat on the cover. This annual event is sponsored by the Columbia Basin Basketry Guild and happens in a nice ocean front location in Rockaway Beach, Oregon. Katherine has been invited to teach two classes this year.

The first one is a willow bicycle basket on the Thursday and Friday. This basket is for the front handle bars of a bike. It’s designed with quick release attach straps. There will be some choice on the side weaves to personalize your basket.

The second class on Saturday is a small berry picking basket. This project is a great beginning willow basket.

There is a nice group of teachers scheduled for this event with a diverse selection of weaving projects. Teachers include Donna Kallner, Kathey Ervin, Lanny Bergner, Deb Curtis, Sheila Tasker, Margaret Mathewson, Kay Harradine, and more. Eventually the registration form will be posted on the CBBG website, but you can get more info from Marge Meyer by email: marjoriemeyer54(at)yahoo.com.

May newsletter

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May 052010

News from Dunbar Gardens May 2010

Willow Basketry Classes & Upcoming Events

News

There is an article about Katherine Lewis, Willow Basketmaker in the latest issue of “Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot”- the quarterly journal of Handweavers Guild of America. The article was written by Sandra Swarbrick who lives nearby on Camano Island and has a long involvement with the HGA. Nice article describing Katherine’s background with basketry, willow, and her teachers.

Katherine is serving as President of the Board for the Northwest Basket Weavers Guild for the coming year.

Upcoming Events

Anacortes Arts Festival Arts at the Port Juried Exhibition: August 6-8, Opening reception July 30, 5:30-8pm. Exhibition entitled “Next” juried by Esther Luttikhuizen showing a diverse mix of work in fine crafts, painting, sculpture, and photography. Katherine is excited to have four pieces selected for the show.

Looking ahead: Exploring Baskets: A juried show and sale of work by members of the Northwest Basket Weavers Guild: December 3- January 29, 2010 at the Depot Arts Center, Anacortes, WA. Katherine is involved in organizing this show and expects an outstanding and diverse exhibit.

Willow Basketmaking Classes with Katherine Lewis

Classes are two days, from 9am to 5pm. Everyone will leave with a finished basket. Class size is limited to 10. Cost is $170 per student which includes materials. Tools will be available to use during the class; and awls, French curved blade knives and locally made rapping irons will be available for purchase. We provide tea and coffee.
There is a registration form on the website. Or you can send us your contact info (name, address, email, telephone) along with a $50 deposit per class session. Last minute sign ups should email baskets@dunbargardens.com for availability. These classes are all in the Mount Vernon area at Dunbar Gardens or just down the road from us at the McLean Road Fire Hall meeting room.

June 26-27 (Saturday-Sunday): Gathering basket, round or oval laundry basket

Depending on each student’s experience, you can make a round gathering or a laundry basket. The gathering basket starts with a round base made by twining, a sturdy base wale around the sides, English randing for the side weave, and a strong cross handle to complete the basket. The round laundry basket is larger than the gathering basket, taking more hand strength and more time to weave the sides. It begins with the same twined base and base wale; then students may choose between different side weaves. The laundry basket is completed with two roped side handles. More experienced willow weavers can make an oval laundry or log basket that is also finished with roped handles.

July 13-16: four day in-depth class

This class session is currently filled. Katherine appreciates the positive response for the longer session and will be planning another one in the future.

August 16-17 (Monday-Tuesday): Scallomed projects

Classes at other locations

May 20-23: Willow basketmaking presentation and class in Portland, Oregon for Columbia Basin Basketry Guild members. Katherine is looking forward to her trip to Portland. She will be giving a presentation to the CBBG on her passion for willow basketry at the regular meeting of the CBBG on the evening of May 20. She will teach a two day class weaving an oval laundry or garden basket May 22-23. Sign up for the class is through the CBBG and Carol Horvath (email: carolhorvath8@gmail.com).

October 21-23: Tidal Twinings, Columbia Basin Basketry Guild Fall Retreat in Rockaway Beach, Oregon. Katherine will be teaching two classes at the CBBG retreat this year. Willow bicycle basket on Thursday & Friday and a Berry picking basket on Saturday. You can be a member of either the CBBG or the Northwest Basket Weavers Guild to attend this fun event. See their website for details and contact info.

Facebook: Dunbar Gardens has a Facebook page. If you are a Facebook user, become a follower and keep up to date with our activities there. We also invite you to contribute by posting comments, your photos from one of our classes, starting discussions related to willow basketry or willow growing.

For more information about classes, baskets, willow growing, or our farmstand please visit our website.

Thanks!

Katherine & Steve

MoNA Style 2010

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Feb 242010

Katherine sets up her display at MoNA Style

Katherine just participated in MoNA Style 2010. The Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, WA hosts an annual wearable art show and sale featuring clothing, jewelry, and items for the home. This year’s event featured forty Northwest artists as well as a cafe and fashion shows at local restaurants. The event is one of the fundraisers for the museum each year. This year’s silent auction theme was “Lingerie”. There was a variety of work in ceramics, fiber, metal, and painting. At the end of last year’s show the theme was announced and Katherine decided to create a piece.

Katherine’s goal was to make the piece only with willow, which she did except the small amount of thread used in sewing the skirt. There are several different willows used with the natural colors of green, red, and orange. The skirt is made from willow bark which was cut into strips and sewn to a bark waist band which is attached to the top with bark also. The corset part has bark strips to tie it together in the back. The front uses a colorful zig zag weave while the sides were woven with a fitching technique for an open look. The photo above of Katherine with her work was taken by friend and ceramist Dinah Steveni. Below is a slide show of images of the work from several sides and details taken by Steve.

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Mom and Pop business

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Feb 122010

“We found your website while looking for some willow baskets for a display. We were hoping that you might be interested in bidding on our project.Please let us know as promptly as possible if you are interested” read the email that we received on a Friday afternoon. On Monday Katherine sent back a list of questions and arranged to speak by telephone that afternoon. That’s when the project coordinator told Katherine, “My boss said, ‘This is just a mom and pop business. They’re not going to get back to you.’” But Ann had responded, “Sure they will, this is how they make their living.” Mom & Pop on the internet selling their wares and services have to be ready to respond to potential jobs, especially in the current economy.

Spaeth Designs in New York City has built a reputation on window displays. They are known for the animatronic windows that they produce for stores like Saks Fifth Ave and NBC in NYC and Marshall Fields in Chicago. They also do special events and promotions. The job they contacted Katherine about is one involving some hot air balloons. They needed a basketmaker to make replicas of four balloon baskets of different sizes. They had some drawings done but not really the details.

On Tuesday, Katherine soaked up some willow and went about weaving a sample basket. Later in the day, she told me that we needed to get some photos done and emailed by the end of the day. The Spaeth crew was meeting with their client the next morning and needed photos of the sample and a price quote before the meeting. So I got out the camera and opened up the Photoshop while Katherine worked the bid. Wednesday afternoon we heard the boss was surprised we managed to get the sample photos sent, but also that the project is over budget. So they aren’t sure what is going to be kept in the final display. “We’ll let you know by the middle of next week at the latest.” Ironically, we are still waiting for a reply at week’s end. Must be their client’s fault. You know those big retailers never get back to you on time.

Post script: To save cost they decided to make solid boxes with “a covering of some sort”. They did say, “We want to thank you for being right and ready to hop on the project at a moments notice…” Maybe a future project will come our way.

2010 calendar

Dunbar Gardens 1 Response »

Jan 012010

The prevalence of digital photography has made it easy to make all kinds of nifty printed gifts. I took advantage of a nice offer at one of the local printers to make a calendar for Dunbar Gardens of Katherine’s willow baskets. The easy part is finding photos of some of the wonderful baskets Katherine has made throughout the year. The hard part is finding good photos that I would like others to be looking at for a month. Most of the baskets have been sold, so there are no second chances for a better shot. Here’s what I came up for this year (click on the thumbnails for a larger view:

His and her gifted baskets

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Dec 272009

his basket

“Well I wished you could have been here when I opened up my present after he had opened mine. We laughed and laughed. Thanks for making our presents this year. We will be so coordinated and organized!” Katherine and I had already had a good laugh about this couple that had each arranged a basket to be made for a Christmas gift. She had come by several weeks before the holidays to ask Katherine to weave a small square basket for her husband. A basket for him to toss his keys, wallet, and stuff. She picked her gift up three weeks before Christmas.

her basket

Then on Dec. 18 her husband stopped by looking for a basket. He wanted to get her a rectangular basket for use in the kitchen to contain oil, vinegar and spice bottles. The red and green willow combination was appealing to both of them as it turned out. Lucky for him, and her, Katherine had willow ready to weave that weekend and she made his gift.

For the kitchen basket, Katherine used wood slats in the base to get a flat bottom. She covered them with a greenish willow bark to match the base weavers, as you can see in the photo above.

kitchen willow basket

They were both shopping for a locally made, handcrafted gift; they just never guessed they would pick the same place. Here’s a big thank you to everyone that bought a handcrafted gift this year.

weaving a willow garden basket

baskets 5 Responses »

Dec 152009

I photographed Katherine weaving a willow garden basket in October, 2007. Recently I picked out 15 of them for a set that I posted to our Flick.com account. The photos were taken in one of our barns on the farm.You can see some of the dried basketry willow from our farm behind Katherine. There is also a selection of finished baskets. The amazing detail is that our cat Spike only appears in one photo!

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To be clear, Katherine doesn’t normally work here. These photos were taken for a magazine article that appeared in the April 2008 issue of Romantic Homes. The issue had a focus on “ways to shop green” and “French style”. Katherine was the featured artisan in an article entitled “A Basket Case”. The editor asked us to provide some photos of Katherine at work and on our farm. They did a nice job of taking what we sent and cropping it for a nice mix of images.

Jacqueline deMontravel wrote in the article, “Shopping with a basket is as classic and stylish as a designer bag that warrants a waiting list. As the trend catches on, such style will do more than liven up grocery aisles, it will benefit the world….Katherine says”It’s a purchase for something local, making an investment for a well-made item.”" Well in the photos we took she is weaving a garden basket, but maybe you’ll get the idea!

bottle pouring basket

baskets 1 Response »

Dec 112009

bottle basket with French randed weave

Katherine recently made some baskets for beer and wine bottles. She was contacted by someone involved with an east coast beer distributor looking for a traditional wicker basket for pouring lambic beers. He sent along a couple of photos that were only a little helpful. But the basket did seem very similar to wine bottle baskets Katherine had seen in France, and fortunately several years ago a friend had gifted her one of these baskets made in France at the Cooperative de Vannerie in Villaines-les-Rocher.

French small bottle basket

She used this basket as the model for her baskets. She decided to weave two versions – one with a French randed side weave (photo above) and the other with a slewed side weave (photo below).

bottle basket with slewed side weave

The baskets came out quite nice, and the beer guy thought they looked great. But those Belgian ales aren’t cheap either and that’s where they’re putting their money for now. So no big order for Katherine, but another basket to add to her resume.

Update July 2, 2011: Here is a recent one made for a birthday present.

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NBO exhibit at The Bascom

June newsletter

Tidal Twinings 2010 brochure

May newsletter

MoNA Style 2010

Mom and Pop business

2010 calendar

His and her gifted baskets

weaving a willow garden basket

bottle pouring basket

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