Antler Baskets with Jill Choate
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Vladimir's book - Plaited Basketry with Birch Bark written with Flo Hoppe & Jim Widess, expands on the basics with several more lessons, history and a gallery of traditional and contemporary plaited weaving.

Purse size: approximately 7-1/2" x 2-1/2" x 5-1/2"

If you are new to diagonal plaiting, start with the Small Square-to-Round Baskets to learn the basics. Two Square to Round Diagonally Plaited Baskets

Oval Birch Bark Basket Stitched with Spruce Roots

Wall Pouch in Russian Birch Bark with Pinwheel Curls

Square-To-Round Basket Variation #3 (3-D rim)

All materials are harvested and processed by hand with simple tools by Vladimir. He harvestes his birch bark and spruce roots in the forests of Russia. Many of the tools he uses are also made by him.

To purchase Vladimir's Russian birch bark, please contact Ann Harrow at ann@harrow.org.
To view more of Vladimir's Class options, please visit his website: Yarish Basketry

Karl Marks Street 8, Apt 28
Veliky Novgorod 173015, Russia

Certified "People's Artist" (Master Craftsman) in 1997
Accepted into The Union of Arts of Russia in 1998

Artist's Statement

When I was shown how to weave birch bark in 1984, all I wanted was just to make a few baskets. All my life I have liked to make things by hand. As I continued making baskets, I realized there is a huge Russian tradition of birch bark weaving that dates back for ten centuries. I felt the need to support this tradition and decided to make only traditionally shaped Russian baskets.
When I founded the studio to teach people, I learned how to weave something not very traditional. My students in every class "taught" me that. I then understood that, if I wanted to continue teaching people, I needed to change my view on basketry a little.
When I came to USA for the first time I saw a lot of weaving styles: traditional, contemporary, avant-garde... and was back home with a headache.
Now I know that there are many ethnic groups, nations, many shapes, styles and directions beginning from deep tradition to ultra-contemporary. And if I start to weave something, I must make my best to finish the project!
Vladimir Yarish

Click here for photos from Vladimir's 1999 visit to The Country Seat.

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Hopi Bowl or Tray

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All material used in class is hand split White Oak, from timber which Billy has selected, cut down and prepared by hand.

Large Apple Basket

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Bonnie Gale - Weaving with Willow class -
June 28, 29 & 30 (beginner to all level classes)
(Pre-registration is required for all classes)

Beginner Willow Classes run from 9-5 all three days
Choose to come one day or all three days, then choose which baskets you want to weave from the list below. Tuition = $80 per day, payable to The Country Seat to reserve your place in class
Materials Fee = please see the materials fee listed with each class - payable to Bonnie on the first day of class.

4 Hour Classes, please choose two or four.

Danish Fruit Basket Beginner Level - 12" x 12" x 3" Materials fee = $38 This most unusual Danish willow basket is easy for all ages to make as it starts with a provided cardboard template through which an odd number of willow rods are inserted and tied below. Students start weaving with the siding and then go on to the border. The card is then removed and the basket ends with the weaving of the base! Good for teaching to children.
Exploring Baby Rattles All Levels - 2"x 2" x 4" (varies) Materials fee = $30 In this workshop, several designs of baby rattles will be made. The rattle is ancient in origin. The seven willows represent the seven virtues while the seven pebbles contained by the willows represent the seven deadly sins. Hence, the willows contain and balance the sins and provide good luck. The techniques of different rattle design will be explored. Peeled willow will be used.
Spoon and Candle Basket Beginner - 4" x 4" x 9" Materials fee = $32 Using a variety of different colored willow, students will use a loaned mold for the making of the basket. From a simple slath, the basket is woven in randing weave, ending with a simple trac border and a roped handle. This basket is good for spoons and candles when the basket is attached to a wall.
Sciathog ("Skee-og" Irish Potato Straining Basket) All Levels - 13" x 13" x 4" Materials fee = $48 This classic Irish frame basket is traditionally used for straining and serving boiled potatoes. Pre-carved and dried rims are provided for students. Students will carve ribs and weave with different colored homegrown willows. This basket is nice for fruit.

8 Hour Classes

Wall Basket - Beginner - 6" x 9"x 8" Materials fee = $48 This small rectangular basket is a good introduction to “square work”. A small base is woven in a screw block. The stakes are then inserted, followed by a randed siding and a rod border. The back is made higher and a hole is left in the back for attaching to a wall.
Oval Muffin - more details and picture coming soon.

12 Hour Class (you can add one 4 hour class to make 2 full days)

"Early American Life" Lunch Basket - Beginner - 12"X 12" X 12" Tuition fee = $120 (payable to Country Seat) Materials fee = $48 This excellent beginning basket was featured in the October 1992 issue of the “Early American Life” magazine. It is made of unpeeled willow with a round base in pairing weave, followed by staking up, waling and flared siding in French randing weave. Top waling, double border and wrapped handle complete the basket.

Advanced Willow Class
Monster Garden Basket
14 inches by 19 inches by 13 inches

Tuition = $200 for two and 1/2 days, payable to The Country Seat to reserve your place in class +
Materials Fee = $95 which is payable to Bonnie on the first day of class.

This advanced level workshop features the making of a very special garden basket, in unpeeled willow. It was originally designed by Alastair Heseltine. The oval base is made in the French method, with a provided dried and shaped hoop. The woven base then has scallomed stakes attached to it. Waling and siding follow and the basket features four carved and notched feet inserted into the weaving of the basket. A large border and double wrapped handle add to the sturdy "monster" nature. This is a truly beautiful basket. Students should have had much prior basketry experience and prior willow experience is ideal.

Students must bring: several old bath towels, sharp knife, sharp hand held pruning shears (or basket shears), ruler, spray bottle, notebook, basketry clamps, lunch (or take-out is available nearby) and mug. Weight (ex. old flat iron), rapping iron, bodkin & grease horn (if you have them). Bonnie will bring some to share.

Cancellation Policy ~ Class fee refunded only if your space is filled by another student.
All students under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a paying adult. Maximum of 12 students, please do not wait to register.

Print a Registration Page. or e-mail or call (610-756-6124) to register.
All fees must be paid in advance to reserve your space in class.

"Bonnie Gale has been a professional willow basketmaker for the past twenty-seven years. With degrees from the University of Manchester and M.I.T., she has trained with professional European willow basketmakers. She is proprietor of "English Basketry Willows" (a small business selling imported European basketry willows, willow basketry books and tools) and founder of the "American Willow Growers Network" promoting the growing and the exploration of the uses of willow. She teaches traditional willow basketry across the United States at major conventions and guilds. She writes extensively on traditional willow basketry and willow growing and her articles have appeared in EarlyAmerican Life magazine, Basket Bits, Basketry Express and Fiber Arts. Her work has been shown in major basketry exhibitions and she is the recipient of numerous awards. In 1999, she was awarded an Artist's Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts. She was asked by Plimoth Plantation to make the large willow baskets featured on the film set in the PBS WGBH Boston television series "Colonial House", first aired in May 2004. In March 2006, her work on living willow installations was featured in "House and Garden" magazine, and her living installation on Long Island was shown in the Fall/Winter 2006 issue of "Vogue Living" magazine. In September 2006, she was commissioned by the Mount Vernon Estate to make a basket to specifically hold Martha Washington's love letters. In 2007, she was awarded an Artists and Communities grant from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation to engage in a large scale community oriented living willow installation at the Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park in Erie, Pennsylvania. In 2009, her work was featured in the PBS "Cultivating Life" series. In 2010, she was featured in two segments on the Martha Stewart Show." provided by Bonnie Gale. To read more about Bonnie's accomplishments, please visit her Resumé Page

To learn more about the "American Willow Growers Network" visit English Basketry Willows Site

The Country Seat, Inc.
Basketry, Gourd Weaving & Chair Seating Supplies
1013 Old Philly Pike
Kempton, Pennsylvania 19529-9321 USA
Phone: 610-756-6124
e-mail: weaving@countryseat.com
Fax: 610-756-0088
web site: www.countryseat.com