Benita is a student of Craft School Oz and recently completed our Baskets from the Garden and the Sculptural Basketry course, and her journey is nothing short of inspiring! We're excited to share her experience and showcase the beautiful creations she made. Let's dive into her story! We hope it motivates you to explore new skills and proudly share your own masterpieces with our vibrant community at #craftschooloz.
Inspiring selections for natural basket weaving
You have made some gorgeous pieces. Can you remember why you selected those leaves?
I was feeling really inspired by all the pieces on Ruth’s project wall and watching her handling her little pieces and the materials in the workshop video and I really wanted to create something, but I hadn’t dried anything in preparation.
So while I did go and cut bunches of daffodil leaves, and Red Hot Poker leaves, and Lomandra, I knew I would have to wait for these to dry and I wanted to get started with weaving right away! Instead I went shopping in my garden loosely using the list, and looking for anything that already had dried leaves that I might be able to use.
In the workshop, Ruth used some strings but also some plant fibres - I really loved how those looked, and I wanted to try to find plant fibres of my own. I really liked some of the colours I found, and I chose a variety of orangey browns and lighter creamy browns, although the Freesia leaves turned out to be much too fragile. I came across a banksia on a branch with some leaves and I thought it would be a perfect branch to hang a weaving from. I LOVE the idea of using nature in my art so this was such an exciting workshop for me!
Using the Basket Weaving Plant List as a guide
Did you use the plant list I gave out and did that help in anyway?
I did! I used it to plan ahead and it was nice to have a list that I could rely on to know that if I cut and dry these they will be useful in the future.
I did have access to a lot of dried Agapanthus and the list also advised against them so I kept looking.
It was also useful just to get an idea of the kind of plants I might be able to use and others that probably wouldn’t so that I didn’t have to experiment and start from scratch figuring out what might work.
Growing inspiration and delightful discovery
What did you enjoy about the workshop?
I was really inspired seeing all the different bits on Ruth’s project wall, there were so many really different pieces that really got my ideas growing!
As I was in the garden my mind kept asking ‘what if I tried this?’ ‘What if instead of billy buttons I used this instead?’, ‘what if I wanted to achieve this kind of shape instead?’ and suddenly I had a whole wall of ideas I wanted to try out!
I found it really inspiring.
I also really LOVED that it wasn’t a class with a set outcome in mind. It was so open, and some skills were taught but then it was more of an invitation to go and play rather than a project to follow. It felt really freeing and exciting in that regard.
I also really liked the idea that all the little bits of play that I created could actually be displayed together to become like an exhibition of their own, I didn’t have to be making something big or specific or pre-determined, or particularly functional, and that was really fun - they all contributed to the final display even if they turned out differently than I expected, there was no pressure for anything to be any particular way.
The whole process from wandering the garden, selecting leaves and sticks, soaking them, arranging and weaving while sitting in the grass and the sun, birds above me, future possibilities growing in my mind, was really relaxing and enjoyable and really there was no way to go wrong.
New learnings, new found freedom
What did you learn from the workshop?
I have done some weaving before, but I had never done twining, this was a completely new skill to me. It was explained clearly so that I could watch and then go out and achieve it on my own.
I really enjoyed having this new way to create with fibre and twigs. I also hadn’t really considered weaving without a functional purpose, e.g. a woven mat or a bowl, or cordage to become something else, so the idea that weaving little pieces just for a fun display was quite a freeing concept to contemplate too.
Instant desire to play and get creative
What didn’t you like about the workshop?
Actually nothing! I had watched a lot of workshops that week but this was the first one I acted on. I actually was so excited to get making I stopped the video after the twining part and went outside to make because I had done some weaving before and I was to excited to watch any more. I returned to the rest of the video later that afternoon instead.
Have you been making from one of the workshops? Don't forget to share your work with others to inspire more creativity -- use the #craftschooloz
This book is an exploration of modern basketry, a craft that has transcended from craft to art form. Its pages guide the reader through a visual journey of the background and works of fourteen Australian basketry artists.
This stunning fibre arts compendium is a celebration of the creative voice with basketry at its core.
The book is broken into 3 sections:
Interviews with fourteen modern basketry artists
A materials section with a detailed list of plants that can be used in your basketry practice
A how-to section
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