The season of fall is well upon us and as always, it reflects the changes that occur in nature and in all things. However, something that hasn’t changed at Sievers during the fall for many years has been a class in making a bent willow chair with Ken and Michelle Workowski. Fall happens to be the best time to bend the heavy-duty Sandbar willow used for the arms and back of the chair due to its ability to flex in the extreme without splitting when nailed . Ken Workowski first came to Sievers as an assistant to Rich Prange for the Bent Willow Chair class held in October of 2004. With Rich’s retirement from teaching the class the following year, […]
Sit back and enjoy the view
Now that the students in the Bent Willow Chair class are home, we trust they are all sitting back, enjoying the view from their new chairs and feeling the satisfaction of building them by hand, with the help of instructors, Ken and Michelle Workowski. From the prepared willow, ready-to-go, it’s only a matter of a few hours before the chair’s sturdy frame is complete. The next day is spent bending and shaping, bending and shaping until you have the right fit. Ken has been teaching this class at Sievers with Michelle, together as a team, since 2005. The year prior, he had assisted then-instructor Rich Prange in our Bent Willow chair class. That’s a total of about 175 chairs made […]
Reclaim and re-purpose
Using materials at hand was the focus of the weaving students in Judie Yamamoto’s “Busting the Stash” class as was building a Bent Willow Chair with Ken Workowski, our last two classes in September. Finding a new purpose for leftovers and yarns that one never seems to know what to do with, resulted in fresh discoveries. Brainstorming, yarn swaps, working with color and texture, creating new combinations and moving out of the comfort zone made everything old, new again! Re-purposing natural materials is essential in building a Bent Willow Chair. Ken and Michelle’s business, The Nature of Things, showcases their craftsmanship in using natural and sustainable materials. They diligently seek out and prepare the correct size and length willow so […]
Willow Chair Weekend
As always, the bundles of willow, harvested and prepared by Ken and Michelle Workowski, awaited each student in the weekend Bent Willow Chair class. It’s only a matter of time before the studio is filled with the sound of power drills and within a couple hours the bases of the chairs are put together. The chairs really take shape when the willow bending begins, creating the seat, back and arms. Although the chairs follow the same format, each has it’s own distinct character. This class had two students with the “fastest finish”, completing their chairs by dinnertime on Saturday. It’s been a tradition to order in a few pizzas that night and eat some, work some […]
Weaving and willow
We continued our fall weaving and willow classes this past week with Rita Hagenbruch’s Loom-Structured Lace and over the weekend, the Bent Willow Chair class with Ken and Michelle Workowski. The chair-makers were in awe over the finely woven shawls, blankets, scarves and runners still on the looms or on display and the weavers were equally struck by the progress that the willow chair students had made in just a few short hours, along with the woodshop atmosphere of drilling and hammering. The weaving class had been in session for four days prior, so each student had made great progress on their projects. Lacy wool plaid blankets and scarves, tencel shawls or scarves with beautiful drape and linen or cottolin lace runners were the projects of choice for this class. […]
Sit back and relax
After a weekend making a bent willow chair with Ken Workowski or a week learning the characteristics of deflected double weave with Judith Yamamoto, each student certainly deserved to sit back and relax, perhaps even in a chair made by their own hand! The chair frames were together by the end of the afternoon, just a few hours into class. Bending and placing the arms and backs took another complete day. Students in the Deflected Double Weave class shared samples of their weaving and the accompanying drafts with each other. When class is done, why not sit back, relax and put your feet up? The fall colors on Washington Island are just starting and we’re looking forward to […]
Color and Weave and Willow and Chairs
While we’re waiting for fall colors (there’s still only a few hints here and there), Judie Yamamoto brought her color-and-weave theories to class last week. The patterns in the woven fabric reflect the light and dark contrasts in the yarn and here are some of the lovely results… It seems willow and chairs go together well at Sievers…literally. Starting on Friday afternoon at 2:00pm with the bundled materials, in just a few short hours, with the help of instructors Ken and Michelle Workowski, the frames for all eleven chairs were ready for the next step. It only took until Saturday evening at 5:30 for the first chair to be done, with the rest finished at about 8:30pm after […]
