For Whom the Dells Toll

It has been a while since the last blog and a lot has been happening. However a call the other day sent me hot footing to Auchinstarry to take a look at the infamous Dells.
The high winds we experienced the other week have caused a bit of upset on a few living willow structures, luckily all the installations at Auchinstarry were fine except for the Dells. I don't think the top banding is ever going to work until there is enough new growth to pull the structures in. Thankfully even with the banding being pulled about in the wind the structures are trending inwards and not pulling out. I think this is the fourth time I have re-woven the top banding, and something tells me it won't be the last.

It was a good opportunity to have a look at how the rest of the installations were doing. The take up has been good, in fact it was hard to see any failures. I am sure it helps buying in good quality willow rather than depending on material from old biomass sites. The rules of good basketry are just as applicable when it comes to living willow, selection of material is always top of the list.

The Dells, The Dells

For the last few weeks I have been working on a project for the Waterways Trust and British Waterways. Based at Auchinstarry Marina on the Clyde Canal near Croy a 'Sense and Sensitivities Garden' has been created and a number of artists have been involved in placing wood, ceramic, glass and structural pieces around the Marina.
My contribution has been a series of living willow installations most notably the 'Dells'. These proved a little challenging as the commission was to have the top curved in while I became focussed on the arches, which I quite liked sort of leaning back. They reminded me of a group holding hands and leaning back. However I finally overcame this slight obsession and now the Dells are happily enclosed.

Jenny Crisp at Westhope

I have a sort of basket making wish list, those makers who I would love to be taught by. Fortunately I have just about made it through my UK list, and recently a course with Jenny Crisp took me quite a big step toward that end.
Westhope is a wonderful gem hidden away in the Shropshire countryside very close to Craven Arms. It was established by Anne Dyer, a local land owner and big arts and crafts aficionado, www.westhope.org.uk. The place is filled with examples of hand crafts and fine art going back decades and for those who stay there is the added delight of locally sourced and lovingly cooked food.
Jenny is famous for her behind 3 in front of 5 to 7 border and French style scallomed work. Her work screams perfection and proves that contemporary willow work does not have to be solely abstract. She was taught by David Drew, who always maintains he taught himself, an iconic basket maker currently residing in a cave in France. He instilled in her the importance of selecting material and learning how it responds. You can see this in her work, a real affinity with the willow knowing what will work and how it should be placed.
On our course the making seemed to be secondary, although Jenny said it was important always to keep the image of what you were aiming at in ones mind, it was material and technique that dominated the two days. Making hoops, learning effective knife work, cutting scalloms, selecting material, tools, boards and stools, they became our focus. Magical, a cosy world of busy hands and the hypnotic smell of soaked willow.
Two days, I made one basket, and I would have been just as happy if I had made none, what a course, not just a tick on my list probably top of it.
If you see a course advertised with Jenny Crisp, go on it, www.jennycrisp.co.uk

Catching Up

Another busy few weeks and wow it is October. I remember saying to someone at the Dundee Flower and Food Festival to contact me in September about more plant supports and they replied 'it is September'.
A lot has happened which I hope to blog retrospectively, also my trusty old camera finally gave up last Friday so I have just ordered a new one. It arrived yesterday but I did not order a memory card, so a few more delays. Also a screaming cold at the moment is slowing things up, never mind the sleepy interior of the workshop is just the place to cough and sneeze to my hearts content.
Sniff,sniff.

Buy British Made Baskets

I do a lot of talks, just when I think there cannot be a Women's Rural Institute or local Garden Club that I haven't spoken at another one pops up. I also meet many people and often their baskets, so when the phone rings and I hear 'you did a talk for us last year and you said...about my basket',I go through a brief panic. I did vaguely remember this one, well I seemed to recall it was large but my diagnosis at the time was a bit patchy, however I had said it could be fixed, so fix it I will.
Fellow basket makers will be familiar with this one, imported Asian and East European made baskets that fall apart then come to us for repair. Most cannot be fixed, there is so little material or structure to work on that the only solution would be a new basket. Yet the owner has bought this basket in good faith as a functional container. This particular one was bought in Wiltshire, so the owner assumed it was made locally, Wiltshire conjures up an image of rural makers continuing age long crafts.
The handle liner consisted of two quite sturdy rods but they were only fixed into the border at a depth of an inch, result, a very wobbly handle. In many ways it was a heavy weaver pushed into the randing and taken around the liner which was taking the weight of the basket and its contents. New liner, a few rope handle weavers, I could not cover the whole handle as there was nowhere to place more handle weavers, and that was about as much as I could do. My concern is the new handle is stronger than the rest of the basket.
So to all of you out there thinking of buying a basket, please, please, please buy British and check it was made by a British maker. If you are not sure contact the Basketmakers' Association, www.basketassoc.org email:honsec@basketassoc.org or if you are in my neck of the woods, www.scottishbasketmakerscircle.org email:lochdoon@googlemail.com.

Dundee Flower and Food Festival

This year I had the opportunity to attend the Saturday and Sunday of the Dundee Flower and Food Festival on behalf of the Scottish Basketmakers' Circle. Fellow makers Catherine Davies and Pascal Carr did all the organising the rest of us Jane Wilkinson, Georgia Crook and myself just turned up. Oh and the 'Hairy Bikers' were there too but I don't think they were making baskets.
A great weekend, plenty of space and lots of folk to chat to, really enjoyed the evening with members of the Galgael. The Galgael are a charity based in Glasgow whose core activity is traditional boatbuilding and helping those primarily you have suffered with addiction problems. A great bunch of people and incredibly skilled wood workers, Fiona MacDougall has done a lot of basket making for them particularly in making baskets to fit into odd spaces in their boats.www.galgael.org
I did not see much of the Festival, too busy demonstrating plant supports and puting the world of basket making to rights with Catherine and Pascal.

It is obvious really

Seeing the wood for the trees and all that. I suppose doing something easily and effectively is the aim with most tasks. So when something goes repeatedly wrong and seems hard work there must be something I'm missing.
I have just been finishing a small creel for a friend who needs it for gathering kindling for the fire. It is the type with a curved rather than flat base. I have made these before but usually find it hard work fixing the the uprights into a curve for the base. The curve is okay but often they will kink as they are inserted into the weave. Having struggled away with this it finally struck me to kink the end of the rod to be inserted, then knock it in with the rapping iron. Obvious really and I am sure everyone else does this but it is news to me.
I also started twisting the willow earlier at the top knot stage rather than further on in the final randing. Found some photos in the Scottish Basketmakers' Circle archive of this kind of work. Conserving the history of our crafts is important.