Gathering…bringing or coming together; harvesting or collecting; growing or increasing by degrees; concluding; inferring and understanding. All these definitions captured the last full week of October when 22 willow basketmakers and enthusiasts from across the US and Canada attended the 2024 Willow Gathering held in the Sievers studios. Harvesting the willow patch, taking time to work on projects, experimenting with new techniques and, simply and best, coming together with others who understand and share the same interests. Strengthing and growing the willow community is part of the Willow Gathering’s purpose. Many hands make light work! The entire patch was harvested and sorting began in just over an hour! Then, time to put the materials (harvested or brought) to use. The […]
Willow when summer is over
Willow is a favorite at Sievers, in many ways. This past weekend, it was used by students to make Bent Willow Chairs with instructor, John Rezachek. Although this furniture-type willow was sourced elsewhere in Wisconsin for the class, Sievers has several varieties of basketmaking willow planted and growing behind the Walter Studio, for use in Jo Campbell-Amsler’s willow basketry classes and by other weavers. Incidentally, the very first basket making class at Sievers was Willow Basketry with Char TerBeest-Kudla, held in 1980, our second year of classes. We love our history with willow! This past weekend’s class joins others already in the willow history books. Led by John, students had the chair frames together only a few hours after class […]
Take five
We’ve had a busy start to August with five classes in session during the first ten days of the month. Beadweaving, and then Mixed Media Fiber Jewelry with Francie Broadie, Finding Our Way: A Dyeing Journey with Stephanie Lewis Robertson, Batik with Anne Landre and Coiled Basketry with Lynn Stracka Schuster. Let’s “take five” and see a little of what each class did during their time in the studios. Francie Broadie’s Beadweaving: Lesser Known Stitches class allowed all levels to try beadweaving for the first time or to explore unfamiliar stitches, then in her Mixed Media Fiber Jewelry class, students created one-of-a-kind jewelry using fabric scraps, beads, found objects or pieces of old jewelry, upcycling and combining them in fun […]
Making the most of June-Part 1
How much can we fit into the month of June? Plenty, as it turns out! We’ll have welcomed five classes since June 10, which we’ll visit in this post and the next. For beginners and beyond, team teachers Kathy Broer and Judith Yamamoto have shared one or more new techniques during their Japanese Temari classes and this year, the focus was on Kikus and Triwings. In addition, for their main project, the students were challenged to use several shades of orange colors in each of the design motifs on their Temari. It’s truly captivating to see all of the samples Kathy and Judie bring as inspiration for their students and there’s an added delight to see the looks of amazement […]
2024 Sievers Preview
February 1st will be here in only three weeks! That day, all of our 2024 classes will be open for registration and the class descriptions, along with complete information, will be available on our website. The site will be in “maintenance mode” soon, but available again for registration on February 1. Featured on the cover of the 2024 brochure is the handweaving of Judith Yamamoto. Judie first came to Sievers as a student in Mary Sue Fenner’s 1981 Basic Weaving class and the following year, she offered a class in knitting. Since then, she’s gone on to offer another 100 classes at Sievers and has been a student here 35 times. Thank you, Judie, for being part of Sievers for […]
Wrapping up with willow
After our last class ended, we began to look forward to one more highlight of the season! An event coordinated by Jo Campbell-Amsler and Lee Zieke Lee, Willow Connection 2023 brought together a group of willow basketmakers and enthusiasts from all parts of the country for four days of willow harvesting, basketmaking and sharing. The group harvested the entire Sievers willow patch in one morning, which ended up being the one time it didn’t rain during the time they were here! The fresh cut willow, along with other materials brought by the participants, was used for making baskets and sculptural pieces. Wrapping our season up with willow added more wonderful memories to the ones we already made in 2023! We’re also […]
Bringing the outdoors in
Last week, both classes brought the outdoors in by using some of nature’s gifts including birch bark, leaves of all kinds, roots, and willow in many sizes and lengths. Karen Tembreull’s Eco-Printing on Birch Bark class started with printing a journal cover using leaves, imprinting the design onto sheets of birch bark using a steaming process. This was one of those classes where you want to be there to watch each and every step from start to finish. Assembling the pages and binding the books, then embellishing and embroidering the covers, resulted in some very special pieces, marrying nature and art. What a joy to hold these woodland treasures in hand! We welcomed a new Bent Willow Chair class instructor […]
From summer to fall with weaving and woodcarving
Two classes bridged the gap from summer to fall last week. To begin with, what a pleasure it was to watch new weavers create a finished piece, placing thread by thread through the loom. In our last Beginning Weaving on a Floor Loom class of 2023, taught by Nancy Adams and her assistant, Susan Johnson, some students went beyond the expected by weaving as many as three projects, including table runners and scarves. So many lovely choices, suitable for beginners, were on display for students to choose from. The looms were in motion from the very start. And so were the instructors! There’s an extra level of patience and helpfulness in all of our beginning weaving teachers. Nancy and Susan […]
