Warped: Prism Textiles exhibition 2023
Where has this year gone? It’s March already and this is my first blog post of the year. I seem to have been busier than usual, as I’ve started teaching basketry evening classes at Morley College (more about this another time) and also I’ve been editing the March issue of the Basketmakers’ Association Journal. That’s […]
Paper cup weaving at Brixton Windmill
A couple of weeks ago I ran a workshop on paper cup weaving at Brixton Windmill’s Art in the Park. This is a free annual event where visitors are invited to draw or paint the 220-year-old windmill, or take part in other creative activities such as marbling, T-shirt printing, or making bug houses. There are […]
Inspired by Haeckel: calcareous sponges
With less than six weeks until our exhibition at City Lit opens, I’m feeling the pressure a bit, as I still haven’t finished any of my four remaining pieces. As I mentioned in a previous post, these pieces are all inspired by Haeckel. The one I’ve made most progress on is a shallow twined dish […]
Inspired by Haeckel: eight samples
We’re now in the last term of the two-year City Lit Creative Basketry course and working on our pieces for our final assessment. These will form the basis of an exhibition at City Lit in July (like our degree show). Each student has to make five works: eight samples, a piece from soft materials, a […]
Twining in an embroidery hoop
One of the commonest ways of starting a twined basket is a bundled start, where you lay one group of stakes on top of another at right angles and twine them together, gradually separating out the individual stakes. I wondered what would happen if I created a circular “warp” by winding thread around an embroidery […]
