Joe Hogan At The Scottish Gallery

In April, the Scottish Gallery will present its first show devoted exclusively to the work of a basketmaker. Bare Branches, Blue Black Sky: The Work Of Joe Hogan will be on display April 6-30. You can read about it here.

Joe Hogan

Embrace

2010

willow rods s.purpurea packing twine and bog pine

W:54cm H:66cm D:54cm

Jo Campbell-Amsler's Ireland Adventure

In September, willow basketmaker Jo Campbell-Amsler will lead a 10-day tour of Ireland that includes a visit with Joe Hogan, a workshop with Alison Fitzgerald, a rush weaving demonstration, garden tours and much more. We'll get more from Jo soon, but I wanted to give you a heads-up on the dates -- September 16-25, 2011. You can see the full trip brochure here. Is your passport up to date?

Latvian Willow Basketmaking Video

This 12-minute video shows Latvian basketmakers Peteris and Lolita Tutans harvesting, preparing and weaving willow baskets. It includes footage of boiling fresh willow in a wood-fired cooker then peeling the bark for buff willow. You may want to pause the video during the weaving segments to get a closer look at the jigs they use. No need to speak Latvian, since there's no dialog (but a lovely musical score by Janis Miltins).

This came to my attention via Facebook friend Lori Hopkins, by way of Vladimir Dvorak.

Have you discovered videos that show the world of willow? Please share links in the comments!

Historic Willow Coracle Film

Thank you to Poppy Hatinger for sharing this video based on footage from 1935. It shows two Irish craftsmen build a coracle from willow and an ox hide, then use the craft to set fishing nets in the River Boyne.

Stickwork In Print

Patrick Dougherty has published a monograph of essays in which he writes about the challenges involved in creating his installations of willow and other weave-able woods. You can order the book at www.stickwork.net. Follow the link into his site and you'll find a wonderful short teaser for a video visual diary shot by a member of the team that worked on Patrick's installation at Chateaubourgh, France. The complete video is available here.

Pruning Living Willow

Jo Campbell-Amsler gave me a heads-up about Lene Rasmussen's blog Willows: Growing and Working With Willow after a teaching gig in Ontario. Last summer, Lene had a nice post about pruning willow sculpture.

When pinching off the shoots it is important to be careful not to damage the bark on the tree. If the shoot has been left too long you may rip some of the bark off if you "rub" or pull on the shoot - risking that that particular willow rod will die. If the shoots have been allowed to grow too big, it is a good idea to pinch them off with your finger tips or cut them off with a small pruning tool.

You'll find the entire post here, along with tips for getting lovely, bushy crowns like the one shown above.

The Treebog: A Willow Composting Toilet

In cleaning out some files, I ran across an article on treebogs by Hilary Burns that I tore out of a Basketmakers' Association newsletter. I'm guessing this was published sometime in the mid-1990's -- definitely before You Tube. Thought you might enjoy seeing this video, an article on DIY treebogs, and a PDF on small-scale sewage treatment and composting toilets. Treebogs even rate a Wikipedia entry.

If you've built a treebog, we'd love to hear about it. If you're planning to build one but are not a willow grower, let us know that, too. And if you're a willow grower who would be willing to share cuttings for such a project, please leave a comment to that effect and a way to contact you. The comment button is right below this post.