Basket Making 101 - No Such Thing

Willow bales ready to work with

We have many hidden treasures on Hornby Island and some of them are better kept secrets than others. Alastair Heseltine is a sculptor trained in traditional Old Europe basket making. He grows, processes and sculpts with willow and many other organic materials. His dry sense of humour and absolute mastery of materials make him brilliant to watch at work and a lot of fun to learn from. We don't see very much of Alastair because he is always deep in process in his woodland studio.

Tools and the start of Doug's basket

Two summers ago I took a sculpture making workshop with Alastair and it was a bit like going back in time. His studio is an open loft with giant hewn beams and Persian carpets set wall to wall on the floors. Everywhere you look there are sculptures, baskets, hand-made tools, and bales of harvested willow that have a strong, distinct and sweet smell. Sculptural techniques with willow were fascinating but I really wanted to see what basket making was like.

Day two; it's a slow process  

The derogatory slur of Basket Making 101, meaning "something beyond simple to learn", is a mystery to me. There is nothing simple or easy about this art - one of the very oldest on the planet. It takes planning, a knowledge of materials that takes years to master, tactile acuity and brute strength!

Somehow I managed to talk Doug into taking this workshop with me this year and we spent the weekend making our Spanish Provisions Basket. There were nine participants in total, including a new mom who has been a student of Alastair's since she was a child growing up on Hornby. Baby Ursula entertained herself watching all of us play while she gummed happily on a willow chunk. Willow, it turns out, has natural aspirin properties, making it a perfect natural chew toy for a teething baby.

Doug's finished basket

The three seasoned basket makers in the class freed up Alastair  to babysit the rest of us. He coached, corrected, coaxed, and even coddled us through the process. Alastair is a solid instructor despite his self-critical claims to the contrary.

We split, peeled and wove the fronds around uprights; we learned a bit about the history of the process and we gained a great appreciation for hand-made baskets. Most of the participants were already makers of many things: carpenters, one potter, knitters and weavers. Everyone could appreciate the mastery required to do what Alastair does.

Doug and I now have our own mushroom collecting baskets (our own designation) made with our own hands. Let the wild harvesting season begin!