Techniques, Materials & More

  • Video: Willow Bark Class

    Follow the processing and weaving steps as Jennifer Heller Zurick teaches a willow bark weaving class at the 2013 NBO Biennial Conference: Tradition & Innovation in Basketry VII

  • An Artistic Journey from Korea to the Renwick

    Thank you to the Northwest Designer Craftsmen for this recording of NBO member Lanny Bergner, “An Artistic Journey from Korea to the Renwick”. Lanny is a mixed-media sculptor, installation, fiber, and sculptural basketry artist.  Lanny has been creating… Read More

  • Nancy McKeown – “Coiled Pine Needle Basketry Stitch List”

    NBO member Nancy McKeown is pleased to announce the publication of her book, “Coiled Pine Needle Basketry Stitch List”. Nancy is a prolific graphic artist who has worked producing projects for both print and web within a variety… Read More

  • How to Add Your Events to the NBO Calendar

    Here is a resource to guide you through the process of adding your event to the NBO calendar. There is no charge for this service, and you can at listings at any time. We encourage you to post… Read More

  • Video: How to Lash the Rim of a Splint Basket

    An easy-to-weave, carry-all basket made for the long haul, by Beth Hester & Lynne Ferguson. Step-by-step instruction…

  • Lois Walpole: Toxic Basketry

    One of the recent panels held during Virtually Woven included a conversation around the use of recycled materials and the responsible sourcing of other materials, dyes, etc. “These are people who are also genuinely concerned about the environment… Read More

  • Charleston Sweetgrass Basket Tradition Fights for Survival

    In an article for “The State” newspaper, Caitlin Bird examines how, “Today, these makers, who call themselves sewers, speak of a discouraging reality intertwined with a personal quest to keep a Gullah tradition alive.” (Photo of Betty Manigault).

  • Resources for Teaching Fees and Contracts

    These recommendations are the results of over a full year of discussions held by the informal Teachers Zoom group, facilitated by NBO. This evolving group of over 40 basketry instructors from across the US and beyond met regularly… Read More

  • French Randing Variations: Blocks, Zigzags, and Floats

     Enjoy this article by Flo Hoppe and Cynthia Taylor: ” As we kept digging for examples, analyzing baskets, and looking at weave structures from different perspectives, we were a bit amazed by all the variations that could be… Read More

  • From the NBO Magazine Archives

    Take a break and enjoy archived issues of the NBO Magazine. More to come! (Above: Work by Lisa Heyl)      

  • Demystifying the Jurying Process

    Since one of the best ways for an artist to show their work is through entering juried exhibitions, we recently asked three respected jurors to explain something about what they look for when jurying a show.  We posed… Read More

  • Canastromania: Or How Basket Fever Transformed American Basketry from 1890 to 1940

    Kristin Schwain, co-curator of “Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America” presents a lecture and slideshow, “Canastromania: Or How Basket Fever Transformed American Basketry from 1890 to 1940.” The event took place at the Whatcomb Museum in Bellingham, Washington,… Read More

  • A Measure of the Earth: The Cole Ware Basket Collection

    A short film by Billy Ray Sims. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition “A Measure of the Earth: The Cole-Ware Collection of American Baskets” at the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum.

  • Pat Hickman – “Art Baskets: Breaking Boundaries” Event Lecture

    Shown above: “Akin”, (detail), Pat Hickman and David Soo. Photo by George Potanovic, Jr.   Pat Hickman gives the closing lecture for All Things Considered IX: Basketry in the 21st Century, presented by the National Basketry Organization at the… Read More

  • Capturing Your Work With Photography

    “Many artists and craftspeople feel that too much emphasis is put on the kinds of photos that they present of their work. It seems like the work should speak for itself, right? Actually, there are reasons why images… Read More

  • Inner Gold – Tressa Sularz

    Enjoy this mini- documentary about NBO member artist Tressa Sularz, her remarkable journey,  and how it has impacted her work.

  • Progressive Randings

    Progressive randings are woven in steps with a specific progression for each of the weavers. At least one of the weaving elements is worked with an over/under randing stroke. Differences in working methods as well as differences in… Read More

  • Basketry: The Art of Willow Craft

    Book review by Lise Bech In 2007 Peter Juriga, a Slovak graphic designer and basketmaker published the book ‘Kosikarstvo’,- the culmination of many years of learning, practicing and writing about basketry. The book was of such a high standard… Read More

  • Mary Butcher – So You Want to be a Basketmaker…

    But how to go about it? Here are some tips and thoughts that may help you approach work in this, or perhaps many other, handskilled crafts.

  • More To Consider 2 – A Look Back

    Enjoy this wonderful slideshow of the More to Consider 2 exhibition held at the NBO Conference this past July in Tacoma, Washington. Thanks to all who participated, and to Karen Gubitz for this wonderful look back!

  • Instructional Video: Spiral Weave Basket

    A GREAT GIFT! For yourself, for someone you know, or to have something fun to do! NBO is pleased to offer an instructional video for basket makers of all levels. Flo Hoppe demonstrates, in step-by-step detail, how to… Read More

  • Willow Resource Guide

    The Winter 2015 issue of the NBO Magazine included a resource guide for willow materials. Download this free resource, and  visit our online shop to purchase a copy of this special issue! Download your copy of the resource… Read More

  • Donna Crispin Weaves New Baskets from Old and Natural Materials

    We were saddened to hear the news of Donna’s passing on February 5, 2019. Our condolences to her family and friends. Seaweed on the beach, cattails in a ditch, grapevines on a trellis, bark on a birch tree… Read More

  • Video: A Playful, Sculptural Approach to Basketry

    Instructor Natalie Miebach leads students through a nontraditional process of creating beautiful woven sculptures based on stories each participant created at a recent National Basketry Organization Conference.

  • Video: Black Ash Weaving Class

    See and learn how JoAnn and Steve Catsos lead a class from black ash tree splitting to finished baskets in this workshop from the 2013 National Basketry Organization Conference.

  • Easy Flower Vase

    A future Mother-In-Law, and friend of basketmaker and NBO Board Member, Beth Hester wanted something special for the family’s upcoming rehearsal dinner party. So, Beth suggested they weave a basket around their antique Blue Mason Jars.
    Step-by-step instructions.

  • Make “Color Play”

    For all level of weavers, create this basket from Flo Hoppe with different colors and number of spokes to create spirals, zigzags, and arrows.

  • A Measure of the Earth

    Produced in conjunction with the exhibition “A Measure of the Earth: The Cole-Ware Collection of American Baskets” at the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum. “A Measure of the Earth” celebrates the generous gift of seventy-nine baskets to… Read More

  • Cherokee River Cane Basketry Class

    Watch as a class learns the secrets to weaving with this beautiful, durable basket material used by the Cherokee nation as long ago as 600 A.D. The shape and patterns appear deceptively simple, but the techniques require special care and attention.

  • Make “Color Play”

    For all level of weavers this colorful reed basket can be made thanks to instructions provided by NBO Lifetime Achievement Award winning basket maker Flo Hoppe. Three-rod wale is the basic weave for this basket, but the fun… Read More

  • Selecting a White Oak Tree for Basketry

    Finding the right tree is not easy, but time spent locating a good one pays off when the splitting begins. The best tree for splints is found in hollows, in rich bottomland soil or the lower part of… Read More

  • Video: How to Lash the Rim of a Splint Basket

    Click on image to view a short video demonstrating how to lash a typical splint basket rim, including details how to stop and start lashing.   Excerpted from the iBook, How to Make the Mule Skinner Basket Easy-to-weave, carry-all… Read More

  • Rattan: Supply Down, Prices Up…

    Global economic forces have created a worldwide shortage of rattan, pushing prices ever higher. Wholesale prices have doubled in the United States. That increase, combined with higher shipping costs, has shown up in higher prices for all reed and some smaller sizes are being rationed by retailers.

  • Warazan ~ Knotted & Woven Characters from Japan’s Ryukyu Islands

    For many years, the population of Japan’s Ryukyu Islands noted numerical values, calculation results, enumerations, and more with knotted cords from rice straw. Even after World War II,  fishermen, moneylenders and simple merchant were observed working with these cords of rice straw.Warazan were… Read More

  • reed

    Basket Reed: Where It Comes From, How It’s Produced

    There are between 550 and 600 species of rattan, which can be found in rainforest areas from South China to Australia and Fiji to West Africa and Madagascar. Basket reed is produced from the core of this thorny… Read More

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