🌿Course dates for 2026 are up on my website!🌿
I’ll be teaching a little less next year as I make space for some travel, but I’m really glad to be offering the programme that means a lot to me.
This long-running, close-to-my-heart deep dive into weaving with seasonal materials at the @woodlandskillscentre in Denbigh North Wales- Weaving with the Seasons. It’s a course shaped for people who want to explore plants- place- and the rhythm of the year through hands-on making, and it’s been a joy to see how much people get from spending time with these materials.
These workshops often get fully booked, so if you’d like to join me in 2026 it’s best to book early and not leave it to the last minute.
I’m also available for small private group bookings, one to ones, and community projects, for anyone who’d like to explore weaving in a way that suits their group or idea.
If you’d like to come along or collaborate, courses and contact details are listed on my website (link in bio).
#basketrycourse #weavingcourse #basketryclass #foragedfibres #foragedbasketry #foragingforcraft #bushcraftcourses
I’ve already been back from my travels for a week and a half, but somehow I’m still a bit jetlagged! I’m skipping over lots of the trip and things I'd like to share, but before the months roll by I wanted to post a wee something before I end up posting nothing!
These two little baskets I made at the end of my trip and gave away were made with kiekie and harakeke from Aotearoa, but they were inspired by the small dilly bags I encountered in Australia, using pairing techniques I know from home.... A real cultural mash up!
I’ll share more soon. So much learning- and curiously not actually that many baskets, but a lot of conversations about baskets...more soon!
#baskets #dillybag #kiekie #miniaturebaskets
Oriel Davies Gallery teamed up with Powys Teaching Health Board, Open Newtown and Plant Life to run a series of free creative workshops Between May and July for people who were experiencing challenges with their mental health. This project - Clwb Crefft - was funded by Arts Council Wales.
Artist team Jeanette Gray and Gareth Fysh-Foskett delivered a programme encompassing weaving , and green woodworking, mindfulness practices, poetry, foraging, rambles and cooking over fire, providing expert tuition and resources that supported individual and group creativity. In their feedback participants commented positively on the project and how it provided new learning and skills, enjoyment, increased connection to nature, new friendships and useful strategies for improving their wellbeing.
Animator Efa Blosse-Mason produced a thoughtful short animation based on feedback from one of the project participants.
Ymunodd Oriel Davies Gallery â Bwrdd Iechyd Addysgu Powys, Open Newtown a Plant Life i gynnal cyfres o weithdai creadigol am ddim rhwng mis Mai a mis Gorffennaf i bobl oedd yn profi heriau gyda'u hiechyd meddwl. Ariannwyd y prosiect hwn - Clwb Crefft - gan Gyngor Celfyddydau Cymru.
Cyflwynodd y tîm artistiaid Jeanette Gray a Gareth Fysh-Foskett raglen a oedd yn cwmpasu gwehyddu, a gwaith coed gwyrdd, arferion ymwybyddiaeth ofalgar, barddoniaeth, chwilota bwyd, crwydro a choginio dros dân, gan ddarparu hyfforddiant ac adnoddau arbenigol a gefnogodd greadigrwydd unigol a grŵp. Yn eu hadborth, gwnaeth y cyfranogwyr sylwadau cadarnhaol ar y prosiect a sut y darparodd ddysgu a sgiliau newydd, mwynhad, cysylltiad cynyddol â natur, cyfeillgarwch newydd a strategaethau defnyddiol ar gyfer gwella eu lles.
Cynhyrchodd yr animeiddiwr Efa Blosse-Mason animeiddiad byr meddylgar yn seiliedig ar adborth gan un o gyfranogwyr y prosiect.
I’ve landed in Aotearoa, and I’m now in Golden Bay with my wonderful host Nicola @gowillowgoldenbay - here to teach at her annual basketry gathering, Go Wild with Weaving, in beautiful Collingwood.
Before the teaching begins, there’s this lovely exhibition at the Museum Gallery in Takaka, showcasing mostly local fibre artists- I’m really honoured to have work included. Huge thanks to Nicola for the care and energy she’s poured into bringing it all together and creating something that really celebrates basketry.
Golden Bay holds a bit of history for me too- I passed through here 18 years ago, hitchhiking and not really knowing where I was heading. I never imagined I’d find my way back like this.
Strange, the paths things take!
#gowildwithweaving #goldenbaynz #fibreartnz #aotearoaart
On the adventure of a lifetime, winding my way through Bali on my way to Aotearoa where I've been invited to teach a wee workshop!
Bali is an absolute treasure trove of basketry, and I just wish I had more time here to explore more, and go deeper into Indonesia...
But feeling very lucky for the encounters and learnings I have had, and especially meeting @rosa_bambooclassbali . If you are in Bali and want to learn about bamboo basketry, its heritage and cultural importance as well as how to donit, pay her a visit!
#bambooweaving #bamboobasketry #balibasketry
A wee weavey waterbottle holder for friend and colleague @highvoltage_queen (we work together for the very awesome @smallwoodsuk@coedlleol )
It was nice to get my head out of the computer where its firmly been for a while to make this ❤️
🌿 basketry rush (Scirpus species)
❤️ reedmace rush (Typha species)
🌿 yellow flag iris
❤️ daylily
Make a Swedish Star with Jeanette Gray of Weaving Wild. ✨
Mindful Solstice Workshop. 🎄
A slow paced, mindful and relaxing shift into the festive season. For adults and accompanied children over 12. With seasonal refreshments included. ❄️
Learn how to make a beautiful traditional Swedish Star to decorate your home for the festive season or gift to someone special!
All materials included.
£35 per person, booking essential, the afternoon session is now fully booked, but we still have spaces left for the morning workshop, 10am - 1pm.
*Stars are approximately 55cm across.
Link in bio
Gwnewch Seren Sweden gyda Jeanette Gray o Weaving Wild. ✨
Gweithdy Heuldro Ymwybodol. 🎄
Symudiad araf, ymwybodol a hamddenol i mewn i'r tymor Nadoligaidd. I oedolion a phlant dros 12 oed gyda nhw. Gyda lluniaeth tymhorol wedi'i chynnwys. ❄️
Dysgwch sut i wneud Seren Sweden draddodiadol hardd i addurno'ch cartref ar gyfer y tymor Nadoligaidd neu fel anrheg i rywun arbennig!
Pob deunydd wedi'i gynnwys.
£35 y pen, mae archebu'n hanfodol, mae sesiwn y prynhawn bellach wedi'i harchebu'n llawn, ond mae gennym leoedd ar ôl o hyd ar gyfer gweithdy'r bore, 10am - 1pm.
*Mae sêr tua 55cm ar draws.
Dolen yn y bio
❄️Weaving with the Seasons- Winter❄️
A huge thank you to the Woodland Skills Centre for welcoming us back again for this year's winter iteration.
The Weaving with the Seasons courses are usually two days, spent outdoors in the woods, but the winter is a bit of an exception- to be kinder to cold fingers and changeable weather, the winter gathering is a one-day course, and this year we worked indoors, tucked up beside the wood-burner while the weather howled outside!
Everyone made such beautifully individual little baskets, each one shaped by a mix of bramble, ivy and rose gathered from the wintry wilds. For those who were keen to experiment, there was also some non-winter willow bark to have a wee play with- a memory of Spring sunshine and a little taster of materials we will work with on the Spring Course!
A day of warmth, shared making, seasonal materials and small, sturdy baskets to carry it all home in.
There are still a few spaces on next year's courses if you'd like to come along in 2026!
#basketrycourse #wildweaving #wildbasketry
Some photos from the workshop of very talented weaver Leah Pybus @willowbasketsbyleah
I was very lucky to do a 3 day course with Leah last week, learning how to make the Cyntell- a traditional hazel and willow frame basket from Wales. I've wanted to make one for a long time, and was so grateful to Leah for sharing her depth of knowledge and huge patience guiding us through the process (a very humbling experience for this non willow weaver!)
Once upon a time the Cyntell was a bit of a 'use for absolutely everything basket' - on farms, in the kitchen garden, for carrying peat, potatoes, laundry, eggs… basically anything the day demanded. It's tough and light and big and practical, and already I've used my own for laundry, shopping, carrying tools out to the van, tidying the house...loads of stuff! I can very much see it becoming an everyday basket in my own life 🧺
P.s. juaf look at the eyes of Leah's beautiful dog Glas in the last pic!
#Cyntell #heritagecraft #heritagebasket
I often get asked what my favourite material is, and honestly it's such an impossible question to answer! How could bramble not be near the top of the list though?
It's the plant that gives all year round- fibre for making string in early summer, delicious fruit in late summer and autumn, vines like these ones for weaving in winter, and tender leaves for salad and tea in spring!
What's not to love? I can definitely forgive a few thorns for all that 🌿
#BrambleBasketry #wildwoven #wildbasketry #foragedbasketry #bushcraft
