Woven Garden Obelisk and Peony Crowns in Willow

Workshop Overview:

In this workshop, students learn traditional weaving techniques while creating garden supports and focal pieces. Students will use willow grown at Sanborn Mills and weave obelisks and peony crowns through a modern cosmopolitan combination of traditional weaves: Irish mouth wale, French randing, three-rod wale, Japanese eye knot, and god’s eye. This workshop is suitable for beginners wanting to learn a base of weaving knowledge while making impactful pieces relatively quickly. Care and use of finished pieces will be discussed in class.

Strong hands are a must as students will be working with larger willow.

Skills + Techniques

Students will learn:

• An introduction to several weaving techniques and patterns: Irish mouth wale, French randing, three-rod wale, Japanese eye knot, God’s eye
• The “feel” of weaving with willow, a unique material in the US
• The use of willow weaving specific tools: bodkin, rapping iron, jigs, clippers in a willow context
• Identify willow in weaving
• Identify groth and processing of willow for weaving
• Create functional and beautiful 3D shapes

Instructor

Jes Clark

Tools + Materials

Students should bring:

• Jes Clark will supply all tools and jigs required, but students may bring these tools if they already have: bodkin, high-quality sharp pruners (Felco or similar), rapping iron, and 2-4lb weights

Material Fee:

• $25.00 – $50.00 paid at time of workshop

COVID-19 

• Please read our COVID-19 Policy prior to registering
• We are honoring each instructor’s specific COVID-19 safety requests. For this workshop, your instructor reserves the right to require additional safety requirements depending on the state of the pandemic at the time of the workshop

Housing + Meals

Housing and meals will be available on-site in 2022. We will let all registered students know when housing registration is open. Spots will be first-come, first serve. The option to choose meals will be open to all students. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

$175.00 / per student