Wild Basketry Nine Month Series

Harvesting plants and making baskets in community

Teaching my Wild Basketry 9 Month Series has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, not just as a teacher, but as a person. Seeing groups of strangers come together and bond over harvesting wild grasses, learning basketry techniques, and sticking together over the years is just incredible. During 2023 I hosted two sessions for new participants, one session for Baskets 2 students and one session for Baskets 3 and 4 students. After 7 years of teaching this series it is currently on hold as I navigate my first years as a mother, but I have no doubt it will return. This is what you can expect when it does.

During the 9 months participants will:

• Gain a well rounded understanding of the basic basketry techniques: twining, plaiting, coiling, ribbed basketry, twined bags, cordage, and more. 

• Work with a variety of materials, including grapevines, honeysuckle, wisteria, white pine bark, inner tree bark (ash, tulip tree, red maple, elm, etc.), cattails, grasses, iris leaves, dogbane, nettle, basswood fiber, willow, red osier dogwood, spruce root, and more depending on availability.

• Get hands on experience identifying, finding, harvesting, preparing, and processing these local plant materials out in the field. 

• Receive expert guidance as you make a multitude of baskets.

• Explore the deeper meanings of working with plants and basketry through readings and discussion

• Be a part of a community as we walk in the footsteps of our ancestors and harvest gratefully from the earth to make one of the most culturally meaningful objects in history: the basket.