March 2012 newsletter

basketry willow in afternoon sun

News

Katherine was honored to be informed that three of her baskets were recently acquired by the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In 2011, Katherine made several baskets for collectors Steven Cole and Martha Ware. They have a large collection of baskets made by American basketmakers from materials that they collect or grow themselves with an emphasis on functional or traditional design. Their collection includes the work of some impressive artisans including Darryl & Karen Arawjo, JoAnn Kelly Catsos, Jeffrey Gale, Jonathan Kline, Dona Look, Leon Niehues, Alice Ogden, JoAnne Russo, Aaron Yakim & Cynthia Taylor, and Jamin Uticone. Some of the willow basketmakers represented are Jennifer Heller Zurich, Joanna Schanz, Jo Campbell-Amsler, Bill Roeder, Jean Gage, and Lisa Head. Steve and Martha have recently donated a significant number of their collection to the Smithsonian where they are preparing an exhibit of the baskets at the Renwick Gallery in fall, 2013. You can see Katherine’s baskets included in the collection on the Smithsonian website here: http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/results/?id=30089 You can click on the hyperlink name of each basket to be able to view larger images of the work. Below is one of the baskets in the collection. We actually prefer this view of the basket to the one posted on the Smithsonian’s site.

willow basket by Katherine Lewis

Steve Cole’s Rope Coil

Upcoming Events

MoNA Style 2012: Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, WA, March 17, 2012. This annual show features wearable art and home furnishings from Northwest artisans. Part of each sale helps support the museum. Katherine will be there with willow baskets along with 30 plus vendors of handmade creations.

“Willow Knot” Basket exhibit: Philip Dickel Basket Exhibit Museum Gallery in Amana, Iowa, April 2 – September 29, 2012. Katherine made the willow purse below for this annual exhibit organized by Joanna Schanz of the Broom and Basket Shop in West Amana.  The willow knot refers to the large willow rod that is wrapped around a willow bundle and ‘cranked’ until it resembles a knot. Katherine added a pair of tiny knots as embellishments to this purse.

willow knot purse by Katherine Lewis

Willow Basketmaking Classes with Katherine Lewis

March 14 -15, 2012: Northwest Basketweavers Guild Spring Retreat: Katherine will be teaching a “Double border tray” at this year’s retreat. See the Guild’s website for full details.

June 1-3, 2012: Willow Weekend in Entiat, Washington: This weekend event in eastern Washington organized by Claudia Mullek will feature workshops by Judy Zugish, Jo Campbell-Amsler, and Katherine Lewis. Katherine will be teaching a two day class in which people can weave either a round gathering basket or an oval garden basket. There are still places available in this class. Friday evening will feature presentations by the three artists about their work. You can find details and a registration form here in this pdf on our website.

Katherine is expecting to post some dates for classes at Dunbar Gardens for late summer. We’ll be sending another email out in late spring with updates.

basketry willow cuttings from Dunbar Gardens

Willow cuttings

It’s the time of year to order willow cuttings. We have a nice selection of varieties for planting listed on our website. Depending on your location, March through mid May is a good time to plant. There are planting tips on the website. If you need advice or have questions, send Steve an email.

Facebook:  Dunbar Gardens has a Facebook page. We post photos of Katherine’s latest baskets, commissions, and photos of the farm.  You don’t have to be a Facebook user to visit our page and look at the photo albums we have posted there.

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

Katherine & Steve

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January 2012 newsletter

Happy New Year!

Strata basket by Katherine Lewis

Four views of a basket by Katherine Lewis

We hope your new year is off to a good start. 2011 was a busy year for us. As many of you know, Katherine made a six week trip to Europe to visit basketry festivals, basketmakers, museums, and study willow basketry to improve her skills and knowledge of the craft. See below for information about her upcoming presentation in Seattle on the trip. After getting back, Katherine made several new pieces for Art’s Alive (November 4-6) in La Conner where she was invited to participate in the ‘Emerging Artists’ exhibit. Then we were fortunate to get a mention in a Rita Konig column in the Wall Street Journal about log baskets and fireplaces. Next thing Katherine knew she had a waiting list of orders. Although it is nice to be busy, Katherine hopes to spend time this spring concentrating on work inspired by her trip.

willow log baskets by Katherine Lewis

Log baskets with different weaves: French randing, slewing, cat, English randing

Upcoming Events

Baskets in Europe, 2011: Katherine Lewis presentation to the Northwest Basket Weavers’ Guild, January 11, 2012, 6:30PM, Shoreline Unitarian Church, 14724 1st Avenue NE Shoreline, WA. Katherine will be presenting a program about the three basketry festivals she attended in Europe in 2011. She will show photos and discuss the three festivals in Vallabregues, France; Nowy Tomysl, Poland; and Lichtenfels, Germany. Each festival was unique in both basketmakers and staging of the event. She will also bring baskets that she purchased from some other willow basketmakers. Everyone is welcome to attend. Katherine’s program will begin at 7:30, but baskets and other trip souvenirs will be available for viewing at 6:30.

Fête de la Vannerie à Vallabrègues

Artist Trust Benefit Art Auction: Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center, February 25, 2012. Annual event to benefit Artist Trust which supports Washington artists of all disciplines through grants and career training programs. Katherine received a $1500 grant from Artist Trust to help fund her study with basketmaker David Drew in September, 2011. Katherine is donating one of her baskets for the auction.

willow rope coil basket by Katherine Lewis

“whirlpool” by Katherine Lewis

MoNA Style 2012: Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA, March 17, 2012. This annual show features wearable art and home furnishings from Northwest artisans. Part of each sale helps support the museum. Katherine will be there with willow baskets along with 40 other vendors of handmade creations.

two willow totes by Katherine Lewis

Willow Basketmaking Classes with Katherine Lewis

March 14 -15, 2012: Northwest Basketweavers Guild Spring Retreat: Katherine will be teaching one 10 hour class “Double border tray” at this coming year’s retreat. See the Guild’s website for full details. Unfortunately, the Guild is only offering one class by Katherine this year. Want more willow classes at retreat? Make it known to the retreat committee.

June 1-3, 2012: Willow Weekend in Entiat, Washington: This weekend event in eastern Washington organized by Claudia Mullek will feature workshops by Judy Zugish, Jo Campbell-Amsler, and Katherine Lewis. Katherine will be teaching a two day class in which people can weave either a round gathering basket or an oval garden basket. Friday evening will feature presentations by the three artists about their work. You can find details and a registration form here in this pdf on our website.

willow garden basket by Katherine Lewis

Willow Gathering 2012 in Decorah, Iowa, June 21-26, 2012: Katherine has been invited to teach in Iowa at this workshop organized by Jo Campbell-Amsler and Lee Zieke Lee. She will be teaching three two-day classes: rope coil, scallomed oval baskets, and Irish potato basket. For those of you who live in the Midwest this will be a great opportunity to take one or more of Katherine’s classes. Also teaching at the event will be Sandy Whalen and Donna Kallner. The organizers expect the classes to fill well in advance. Information and registrations are available through Jo Campbell-Amsler. See the brochure.

Katherine is expecting to post some dates for classes at Dunbar Gardens for late summer. We’ll be sending another email out later in the spring with updates.

Willow cuttings

Lincon’s Sparrow

It’s the time of year to order willow cuttings. We have a nice selection of varieties for planting listed on our website. Depending on your location, March through mid May is a good time to plant. There are planting tips on the website. If you need advice or have questions, send Steve an email.

Facebook:  Dunbar Gardens has a Facebook page. We post photos of Katherine’s latest baskets, commissions, and photos of the farm as well as other links of interest for willow basketry.

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

Katherine & Steve

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2010 Basket gallery

Some of the willow baskets that Katherine Lewis handcrafted this past year. Many of these baskets were commissioned work. Enjoy the slideshow.

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Exploring Baskets

Exploring Baskets postcard

Exploring Baskets is a show of work by members of the Northwest Basket Weavers Guild exhibited in Anacortes, WA from December 3, 2010 to January 29, 2011. There are over 60 pieces by 22 guild members and the show’s two jurors Lanny Bergner and Danielle Bodine.  Several of the artists are nationally known for their work in contemporary basketry.

willow basket by Katherine Lewis

‘Piece of cake’ by Katherine Lewis

Katherine was excited when an Anacortes gallery asked her about a possible show with the NWBW Guild. She never thought it would be a “piece of cake”, but it’s not easy to imagine all the hours of work that will be needed to organize a group exhibit. There is getting the info out to the members, collecting applications, formatting the images and descriptions for the jury, lining up the jurors,  notifying all the applicants of the decisions, printing postcards, press releases, printing the identification labels for the work, inventory sheets for the gallery, artist name tags, artist statements, making cards to promote the organization, receiving work, transporting it all to the gallery, wrangling pedestals and display cases, finally arranging the art in the gallery, staffing the opening weekend, organizing basket day classes, tracking the event budget, not to mention staffing the gallery on Saturdays because the gallery has cut back on hours due to budget cuts.

Exploring Baskets opening

But the rewards came when the show was up, and the exhibit opened on Friday. Guild members showed up to view their own work and that of weavers they know and admire. The Anacortes First Friday Art Walk always brings out a crowd, and locals were visibly impressed with the quality and diversity of the art and craft.

Thanks go to quite a few people for volunteering their efforts to the exhibit. Katherine Lewis and Kay Ogren were the primary organizers, but they had great help from Mary Irvine, Dorothy McGuinness, Alex Keggan, Heidi Brewer-Peters, Carolyn Swain, Dianne Corso, Lanny Bergner, Claudia Mullek, Sharle Osborne and Jan Smith. The artists all paid a small application fee to enter the show, but the NWBW Guild is still contributing funds to put on the event and receives no part of the gallery commissions on sales.  Katherine has certainly received quite a few appreciative comments since the opening, and she wants everyone in the Guild to share in the success.

Katherine Lewis baskets

‘Harvesting the Skagit’ and ‘Panier a Jour’

Artists included in the show are Sally Anaya, Mary Auld, Lanny Bergner,Danielle Bodine,Heidi Brewer-Peters, David Chambers, Deb Curtis, Jill Green, Mary Irvine, Marcy Johnson, Sharon Kita, Vicki Lash, Katherine Lewis, Dorothy McGuinness, Marilyn Moore, Claudia Mullek, Sharle Osborne, Carolyn Reznikoff, Bill Roeder, Polly Sutton, Elaine Twogood, Melinda West, Sheila Wray and Judy Zugish. Katherine has four baskets in the juried exhibit. Her work is certainly the most functional form represented in this show. (Three of her baskets are in the above photos. Don’t worry, you can see other people’s work in the slideshow below!)

basket day class

Another reward of all the work was seeing new people interested in the craft give it a try. The opening weekend also included a ‘Holiday Basket Day’ on Saturday. Members of the guild taught some hands on basketry with activities available for children and adults. Teachers included Sheila Wray, Elaine Twogood, Kay Harradine, Mary Auld and Karen Samdahl. It was especially fun to watch a couple of the children weave so well that they finished very nice baskets before their adult companions did.

Katherine Lewis weaving willow basket

Katherine was happy to demonstrate her willow basketry work for gallery visitors. People are always amazed at her ability to weave slender willow withies with a few hand tools into a beautiful, functional basket.

With the show up for nearly two months, there is plenty of opportunity to see this outstanding display. The gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday: 12:30-5:00, Saturday: 1:00-4:00. All the work is for sale, and there are additional baskets for sale by the same artists in a non-juried area. I uploaded photos from the opening weekend to our Flickr.com account. There are plenty of views of most of the baskets in the exhibit. Enjoy a slideshow:

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