Basket weaving workshop

A few weeks ago I went to an evening Winter Weaving demonstration and workshop at the Art Gallery of NSW. The workshop was led by Aaron Broad, an Indigenous artist from the south coast. Aaron brought in lots of different things for us to look at, plus all the materials we needed to have a go ourselves.

I’m not sure, but I think this might be the first basket Aaron ever made. Very, very nice. Unfortunately I just couldn’t get the idea of what to do. I kept trying to translate Aaron’s words into my own “weaver-speak” – pretty silly given I’m a loom weaver and can’t recall ever having tried basket weaving before.

This is the little “basket” I made. Line it with feathers and it might work as a nest for a really tiny bird, if it was willing to risk spiking itself on the way in!

The start was a particular challenge. By the end I thought I had an idea of what I should have done.

I should hasten to add that none of my struggles are a reflection on Aaron. On reflection I think it was my attitude, very goal oriented (after a long, demanding and goal-filled work day). Things got better when I became aware of my own tension and just relaxed and started enjoying the journey and the occasion.

It was really nice to be making something with my hands again. I’m enjoying the Art History course very much and putting all my available time into it. That evening I realised I need to shift the balance.

The next day was a non-work one. I decided to try again, but this time using some non-traditional materials I collected during Textiles 1: A Creative Approach. My foundation “canes” are wires stripped from an old computer power cable. The “weft” (not sure if that’s the right term in basketry) is a mixture of some polypropelene tubing and some weed trimmer line (that lovely translucent blue first used back in an exercise posted 22-Sept-2012). I rather like it. Even the bottom went well.