New Caledonian Woodlands

Off to Edinburgh, not to the festival but out to Wester Hailes to the WHALE Centre. This is one of my indoor woodland workshops, I don't know why but all the workshops I have ever run for Caledonian Woodlands have been indoors. Andy has probably explained the reason for this several times but now I come to think of it I cannot remember the reason why. However the WHALE Centre is a new venue for the group and quite a splendid place it is too. Loved some of the art on the walls, must be a nice place to attend.
Guess what I was doing with the group today, yep, cornucopias. Is this all this man can do? Well it sort of follows seasons and also something a group can tackle in a few hours. I started doing them as a group activity last year with Branching Out and they seem to have stuck.
one thing we did do differently today was making rush plaits to weave in. I like people to experiment with the materials in these forms and wherever possible encourage them to plait or make cord from grasses and reeds. Being indoors I brought some field rush from home. A very pleasant contemplative day.

Make It Happen

What a great way to spend a weekend, making plant supports and fence panels in the now nationally famous Girvan Community Garden, otherwise known as 'Make it Happen',http://makeithappen.synthasite.com. The reason I say 'now nationally famous'is a reference to their recent appearance on the BBC Scotland Beechgrove Garden programme. There is no denying the power of the media as interest in the project has gone through the roof since they were featured. It also helped them push the project on a bit as Julie one of the organisers explained having to get the garden ready for filming really focussed the group to complete any outstanding work.
My remit was more leisurely, to teach the group how to make garden items using willow, and where better to start than plant supports. Blessed with increasingly hot weather one group wove away in log cabin while others chose the gazebo or even took to the open air. I kept the willow bundles moving as the sun chased them from one patch of shade to the next. Plant supports popped up everywhere each having that personal individuality which I love about these courses. We practised three different ties and everyone chose the one they felt best suited their structure.
That was day one and the sun decided to join us again for a second day. Most people worked outside on the Sunday and those returning for a second day got started on a hurdle. A bit more tricky than a plant support, keeping a hurdle straight takes a bit of practice. There were some good first hurdles and everyone braved the heat to start another. The plant support group soon had theirs finished and were eagerly looking for something else to make. They were soon hooked on cornucopias which kept them busy while the rest of us began clearing up.
Great group, excellent project if you are near Girvan pop in and say hello, oh and take your gardening gloves.

The Sun Shines at Culzean

After endless rainy days and a feeling of impending Autumn the sun came out. That cheered us all up but also made a trip to the coast even better.
Earlier in the year I did a talk for the Culzean Garden and Wildlife Club at the National Trust property Culzean Castle. The talk was organised by Katy Walker of the Ranger Service and took place in the purpose built lecture room. I do a lot of talks and some days I can get over enthusiastic, and this day was one of them. To me I had only got started but an hour had passed and I had only covered about half the things I intended saying. Well it must have gone well as I was invited back to do a demonstration.
As the day was so nice Katy decided to have the demonstration in a small garden space near the central courtyard. A good turn out by many of those who attended the first time and lots of questions. I still talked all the way through it but at least I made one round basket and half a plant support.

Branching Out

For the last three years I have been running workshops for a joint funded NHS/Forestry Commission project called 'Branching Out'. The project is for people who suffer from mental health problems and are either hospital or community based. The aim is to bring people into an outdoor environment where they can carry out some practical conservation and woodland management work as well as try some art/craft activities.
I tend to meet the group in a willow coppice so we can do some coppicing and make things from the materials we have harvested. At this time of year most of the material from the last season is used up so I tend to take in willow from my own stock. It is quite a shock coming back to the coppice for the first time since the end of March. Tons of new growth and just a completely different scene, I never realised the diversity of species on this precious little site. In fact while waiting for the group to arrive I just sat and sketched, soaking up all the shades of green and varied vegetation around me.
Today we made cornucopias, quite fitting really.

Kirkcudbright Art and Crafts Trail

Over the three days between 30th July to 1st August 2010 Kirkcudbright hosted the annual Arts and Crafts Trail. We are all familiar with open studio events usually spread out across a whole county or region but this is one where the venues can be walked between.
We popped in on the Saturday, largely to see the Glasgow Girls Exhibition, see it if you can the diversity and standard of work of these women is breath taking. Followed by our usual visit to the Tolbooth Arts Centre where we saw work by Liz Dagg and Amy Robb, we kept bumping into Amy for the rest of the day, and a smaller exhibition of Lisa Hooper's prints. Finally onto the trail proper.
It was like a multi-dimensional day out, there was the familiar Kirkcudbright we know and love then all these amazing studios, houses, closes, gardens and a whole other town hidden from general view. We were in the studio of Jessie M.King, who worked there at the beginning of the last century, looking at work by an artist who currently lives there. Along with the art, the houses and gardens were worth the visit in their own right.
I think we might go for the three days next year, amazing.
www.artandcraftstrail.co.uk

Odd Things for the Garden

Due to being really busy outside the workshop for the last few weeks I have had a build up of material which was destined for kindling. Too far gone for baskets, and too much to lose there was the usual in danger of wasting material panic.
As I have been doing a lot of plant supports for events recently, basically because I am out of basket stock and yet had events booked, I decided to work on a similar design but in a solid weave. Jane wants a new bird table and has been looking at the Danish basketmakers newsletters that always have lots of amazing bird tables. So somewhere between a new bird table, not quite finished, and a plant support, came a garden object.
The driver who delivered our new greenhouse saw it and said I should sell it to his company. Halls Garden Centre, are you interested?

Plant Supports and Panels

Last Tuesday was a workshop at my place, they don't happen as often as I would like but when they do it is great. For one thing the workshop gets a thorough clean out and I realise I have more space than I thought. It is also great to be able to pull out extra bits of material, soak as we go and just generally be a bit more spontaneous than relying on what has been packed in the van.

June and Andrea had contacted me regarding making garden items particularly plant supports. Andrea also needed a panel to keep the dog in check so we soon had the makings of a day's weaving.

The plant supports spiralled their way up followed by the frantic measurements of car space to get them home. By lunch time we had two quite impressive supports and two happy ladies.

After a pleasantly chatty lunch, sorry to be boring and drag everyone back to work, we set about making panels. A bit more challenging after the flow of the plant supports, however once everything was tied off and trimmed they looked great.

No photos, but a great day.

Highland Pony Creel

Pony creels have been in the air recently, well one phone call and two emails, which is significant for something that rarely comes up. The big problem with baskets is their lack of durability as a historical object. This is coupled with the fact that something that was common at one time does not get recorded in the same way as a rarer object. The result is that people know something existed but do not have an object to copy. So it was a real treat when I turned up at the last Scottish Basketmakers' Circle committee meeting to see Catherine and Pascal with a genuine pony creel.

Fortunately someone had had this creel in their possession and wanted a copy made. We were all over it, photographing, measuring, discussing weaves and generally admiring this wonderful piece of work. I look forward to Catherine and Pascal's copy.

It has also given me second thoughts as I have always imagined a Highland pony creel to look very similar to a peat creel. Back to the original dilemma, if you don't have an original to copy then it is down to guess work and supposition.

St Andrews Botanical Gardens

Several months ago the Scottish Basketmakers' Circle was invited to have an exhibition at St Andrews Botanical Gardens. The title was Celebrating Wonderful Willow and was put together by the tireless Anne Lightwood, potter and vice chair of the Friends of St Andrews Botanic Garden.

The exhibition ran for the whole of June and ended on the 25th July, during that time workshops were run by Stephanie Bunn and Jon Warnes. I joined Stephanie, Jon and environmental artist Kevin Blackwell on the final day to demonstrate making plant supports.

The images show some of Georgia Crooks work, willow triangles which include other woods and cordage. Georgia will be opening her studio during September as part of Perthshire Open Studios, www.perthshireopenstudios.com.