Hatfield Living Crafts - 8-11 May - I will be with the Hertfordshire Basketry Group during one of the days of the show on their stand, to explain about the group and demonstrate basketmaking. The exact day I will be there is to be confirmed. I will not be directly selling at this event.
The Oyster Fayre - 7 and 8 June - In addition to selling my baskets, I will also be making my baskets at the fayre and taking commissions. Lower Castle Park, Colchester, Essex 10.30am to 5.30pm.
Olivia Elton-Barrett, the next Chief Warden of the Worshipful Company of Basketmakers, undertook a project to construct Gog and Magog, the two giants that lead the Lord Mayor's show each year, in their original willow. The last time willow figures of the City Giants were seen on the streets of London was probably sometime in the 1700’s. After I saw a cry for volunteers in the Basketmakers’ Association's newsletter, I contacted Olivia and offered my services to help make them with the others in Kay Johnson’s workshop in Essex, (Kay Johnson is also a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Basketmakers).
There were a number weekends throughout the year during which we made these large figures. They are 13 foot tall once constructed and are woven out of buff willow. They were finished just in time for the Lord Mayor's Show on 11 November 2006. You can see from the picture below that although the making weekends require a lot of concentration, they are also good fun:
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| Above - My Picture in the Lord Mayor's Show Programme!! | |
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| Above - me, along with some of the other basket makers who helped make the giants (in the blue) in the Lord Mayor's Show with the finished giants. (Picture courtesy of Olivia Elton Barrett) | |