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Info: I started working as a professional
basketmaker in 1994. I have demonstrated at the Somerset
Rural Life Museum in Glastonbury, and at the RHS Gardens
at Wisley on several occasions. I work almost entirely
to commission and have a stand at a couple of craft
fairs a year.
Apart from standard
orders for the normal range of domestic baskets, I have
made a range of unusual items such as a set of winnowing
fans for a schools project run by the Somerset Rural
Life Museum; a basket for the 2009 Kensington Gardens
production of “Peter Pan”; the motorbike panniers for
the “Hairy Bakers” series on BBC 2; a set of “medieval”
baskets for the film “Nottingham”; a range of different
sized willow plates for a local pizzeria; a costume
hamper for Glyndebourne; a large plant support for the
RHS Education Department stand at the Chelsea Flower
Show 1999; and coffins, both for children and adults.
I also make various sizes
of plant supports and have made different kinds of
baskets for garden use and undertake repair and
restoration work.
I have a particular
interest in using a variety of natural willow colours in
my work, and have planted 1,800 sets on two allotments
near my home in Bristol. There are over 30 different
varieties represented and I am experimenting to see
which varieties work best for basketmaking. |
