Creative Activities to Practice

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I am glad so many of you enjoyed my thoughts on Creativity and Excellence.  And now, as promised, here are some of the things you can do to encourage creativity. These are things I do – things I practise. It is not a list of rules, it is a decision to learn and to grow and to make things – this is my life.  I hope you will find some of these practices helpful.

Surround yourself with books and patterns, your favorite baskets, art, color and just enough weaving material to make your hands itchy to weave. Books inspire me. A table with a project in process or reed in a variety of beautiful colors make me want to touch. Beautiful things make me smile.

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Creativity and Excellence

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I have been thinking about this topic for a long time, years in fact. I believe that focusing on excellence, on developing and fine tuning our skills, encourages creativity. In my experience, a lifetime of making things, including twenty five years of basket weaving, I find the pursuit of excellence to be the key to creativity. This principle is also evident when you look at other artists and the progression of their work.

Mastery

Malcom Gladwell has made popular the idea that it takes 10,000 hours to master or become ‘good’ at something. That’s 10,000 hours of work! And the wicker basketmaker’s school in Lichtenfels, Germany (Staatliche Berufsfachschule für Flechtwerkgestaltung) has a three year basket weaving program. That’s right, willow weavers in Germany go to school full time for three years, after which time they graduate and begin their basket weaving careers as Wickerwork Designers.

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My Newly Updated Studio

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Seven weeks ago, we decided that we needed to re-shingle the roof.  No leaks, but it was just time.  That decision started a discussion on the chimneys – which lead to the decision to remove the fireplace …which lead to deciding to remove the oak paneling … which lead to deciding to remove a brick wall in the living room … which lead to needing new flooring in our main living areas … which (obviously) got me thinking about new flooring in the studio and dye room and reminded me that EVERY wall needed a fresh coat of paint!

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Summer in the Studio

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I have spent most of the last several weeks in the studio, avoiding our wet, cool summer and the mosquito filled woods. It’s fine with me, the studio is my happy place. I have been weaving, writing proposals and patterns, filling kit orders, working on a tutorial, finishing baskets, playing with paper and dyeing reed. Last week, I updated my Teaching Schedule, adding in the beginnings of my 2018 class schedule. So much to do and so many baskets to weave.

Here’s a peak at some of the new baskets I have been weaving and will be teaching soon:

Faded Dreams Read more

Basket Bases

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Yesterday, I was working on a set of baskets for my daughter. I love the base on these baskets and it got me to thinking about basket bases.  So you know me, I got my camera and wondered around the studio taking pictures. I love the variety in basketry…

This is the set I made for Melody.

It’s a variation of one of my brand new baskets, T Tray. Read more

Back in the Dye Room

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This week I am in the dye room. Last week it was hard to stay inside and cut kits with temperatures in the 70s,

so when it snowed over the weekend I thought I wouldn’t be tempted to head outside.  However,

 this morning the snow was gone.  It was tough – but I stuck to it and headed to the studio. Read more

Holiday Happenings

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ChristmasIt’s the Christmas Season – so our guild just had it’s annual Christmas party.  In addition to delicious food and planning our 2017 calendar, we also returned our traveling baskets to their owners.  We always have so much fun with this project.  Curious?  Check out my post from last year about how the Traveling Basket Project works here. Here’s a peak at some of this year’s baskets: Read more

Happy Thanksgiving

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We all have our favorite Thanksgiving recipes – here’s one of ours:

Cranberry Orange Relish

Orange slices and red cranberries

  • 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, halved
  • 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
  • 1 orange, peeled, sliced and quartered
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1/2  cup chopped pecans
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar

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November Weaving

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When I spend most of my time in the studio, ignoring my computer, blogging becomes a reflection of that. Not always exciting, but it is my life. So here’s what I’ve been doing:

Tiny Stuff

We had our first real frost over the weekend and the air finally has a hint of winter in it. I’m not quite ready to decorate for Christmas, but it did remind me that I wanted to share my trees with you.November 2016

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Home

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Coming home from the Association of Michigan Basketmakers Convention marked the end of my 2016 travels. I am home for a few months – it really is a wonderful thought! I have so many pictures in my head to weave!

Unfortunately, I started my season of home with a severe case of laryngitis – imagine ten days of me with no voice. 🙂  Now that the fever and chills are past and my voice has returned, I am back to having more things I want to do, then time to do them in!  I already have three new baskets in process and … but yesterday was a glorious autumn day and  I just couldn’t stay inside. So I moved my ‘studio’ to the deck.

Autumn in the Studio

I brought some freshly dyed reed outside to play with Read more

One Full Year of Blogging!!

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Yup, I’m a little surprised myself! This is my 52nd post!

About eighteen months ago, I started thinking about writing a basket blog. So I started researching and asking questions. Of course that just raised more questions, but I was getting more and more interested. So I made a list of what would need to happen – I almost stopped there! Read more

Summer Studio Notes

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In the Studio

Usually July in Wisconsin is hot and muggy, so I spend my days in the studio. I like working in the studio and I have accomplished a lot. Pounds and pounds of cane and reed have been dyed beautiful colors. I even have it bundled and ready for basket kits! Summer Studio TimeI love the dyeing part of kit prep; sometimes when I’m done for the day I will wander back down just to look at the color. Read more

Studio Notes

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Clean!Studio - clean!

Yes, that is just a picture of the floor.  The floor in my studio.  Please note that it is clean.  It is reed free. I even dusted!  I actually just stood here and took it all in – it looks kind of impressive. This week our children come home and this will become living space – this week it won’t be reed strewn, but it may be covered in craft supplies and toys and little bodies. It will be a special kind of messy 🙂 Read more

The rambling thoughts of a basket teacher

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warning – this post will be as scattered and messy as my studio 

My studio is a mess, this is what awaited me this morning…the studioand that’s just one corner. This will be another week of cutting and counting and bundling and packing basket kits – three thousand or so stakes, pounds and pounds of round reed, and thousands of yards of cane – by the end of the week I should have several hundred kits ready for my March and April basket classes. Read more

Basket Weaving with …

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Asher.  Asher is six and would probably tell you what he loves most is to play Minecraft. But his Oma (me), doesn’t play Minecraft so this month we wove a basket together.  It was lots of fun for both of us. His mom said I could share a few pictures with you. Read more

Studio Life

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Today I am working in the studio. It sounds glamorous – it’s not. First, I am sorting and making sure my recently dyed reed is dry. Then I can bundle it – which means I get to count to 50 or 64 or 72 over and over and over. One would think that practice makes perfect […]

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