Instructors: Billy Ray Sims and Micah Wiles
Materials Fee: $250
White oak and brown ash have been used by generations of basket makers throughout Appalachia and the Northeast. While each material has its own traditions and techniques, they share a common heritage of craftsmanship, utility, and beauty. In this four-day workshop, students will explore how these complementary traditions can be brought together in a single basket. Participants will make a small foraging basket with a variety of harness and strap options. Other natural materials such as willow bark, cattails, maple splits, and sweetgrass will be available to add texture, pattern, color, and personal expression.Through demonstrations and hands-on practice, students will learn how these natural materials can strengthen, embellish, and complement a basket’s structure and design. Examples of both raw and processed materials will be available for study, allowing students to better understand how logs, bark, stems, and other natural materials are transformed into weaving stock.
White oak and brown ash processing methods will be demonstrated, and students will complete the final stages of preparing selected materials before weaving. Prepared billets, weaving materials, and accent materials will be provided, allowing participants to focus on basket construction, shaping, and design.
Discussion will include material selection, basket design, shaping techniques, rim and handle construction, and methods for incorporating decorative accents.
By the end of the workshop, each student will leave with a completed basket, material samples, processing knowledge, and a deeper appreciation for the rich traditions and continuing evolution of split-wood basketry.
The workshop brings together the experience of Billy Ray Sims and Micah Wiles, representing two generations of basket makers dedicated to preserving and advancing split-wood basketry traditions. Sims is an accomplished basket maker, teacher, and former magazine editor whose work is included in museum collections, including the Smithsonian and Museum of Appalachia. For more than 30 years, Sims, who lives in Maine, has explored traditional split wood basketry while also collaborating on large-scale sculptural works from natural materials. Wiles is a highly regarded young white oak basket maker from Kentucky whose work is rooted in Appalachian traditions. He teaches basketry throughout the region and recently returned from a cultural exchange program in Japan, where he studied traditional craft practices and woodworking traditions.
This workshop is best suited for students who have completed at least one basket+ and are comfortable with basic over-under weaving techniques. Handling the tools and materials requires good hand strength. The class moves beyond introductory basketry and focuses on shaping, material preparation, design decisions, and the incorporation of natural accents into a finished basket.
Materials Fee: $250
Materials included in material fee:
- Processed and unprocessed white oak, brown ash, maple, willow bark, sweetgrass
- Cattails
- Leather straps
- Buckles
Tools that will be provided for you:
- Various edge tools, such as:
- Drawknife
- Froe
- Spokeshave
- Knives for scraping
- Pins
Tools you will need to bring:
- Craft shears
- Pencil(s)
- Measuring Tape