My first experience with basket making was in 2016 making a fruit basket on a course my mother took me to in Belgium, where I’m from. A year later I moved to Scotland and have experimented with basket making on and off while I was living on the Isle of Erraid. In the winter of 2022, I started making baskets more regularly. I have been enjoying learning different weaves and styles from books and on courses. I work with brown willow; this means the bark is left on the rod.
I live with my husband on our woodland croft at Langamull near Dervaig on the Isle of Mull. Most of the willow I use is from Barfad willow, Ardfern near Oban. We have started to grow our own willow on the croft, but it will take a few years before the rods are long enough for me to use them. I enjoy passing on the skills I have learned in giving willow weaving workshops to beginners.
