Leen’s first experience with basket making was in 2016 making a fruit basket on a course her mother took her to in Belgium, where she is from. A year later, Leen moved to Scotland and has experimented with basket making on and off while living on the Isle of Erraid. In the winter of 2022, she started making baskets more regularly. She has been enjoying learning different weaves and styles from books and on courses. She works with brown willow; this means the bark is left on the rod.
Leen lives with her husband on their woodland croft at Langamull near Dervaig on the Isle of Mull. Most of the willow used is from Barfad Willow, Ardfern near Oban. They have started to grow their own willow on the croft, but it will take a few years before the rods are long enough to use them. She enjoys passing on the skills she has learned in giving willow weaving workshops to beginners.
