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Monday 15 August 2011

Glass and Willow...

Hi all, where did those few days go?! 

I was musing today, I do that a lot, about various crafts and skills that I admire, and crafts that I really admire but know that I wouldn't be able to do in a million years!


I suppose top of the list is glass, I absolutely love glass, I have a special interest ever since we visited Paris years ago and spent all our holiday money on a piece of art glass we found in a gallery there. When it comes to brands Kosta Boda has to be one of the most well known, although now they are a multi million pound empire, they have some fantastic designers producing limited collection art glass, I though these were fabulous:
Ludvig Lofgren    'At The beach'
Ernst Billgren 'Birds in a Nest'
GoranWarff
Kjell Engman
Sometimes I look at hugely talented crafts people and wonder what I'm doing in my little corner of the craft world crafting away in my Hobbit like den, however there have to be superstars in all walks of life for us to aspire to, although I don't aspire to be a designer for Kosta Boda, I can nevertheless gain inspiration from the beautiful works of art they produce.

You could say from the sublime to the ridiculous I  would love to learn to weave using Somerset willow, this is my area geographically so not far for me to go on a day course, so it's definitely on the list of achievable crafts to learn. My partner was born and brought up in the Somerset Levels, a wetland area in central Somerset where willow has been cut and used since man first settled in the area, I'm from North Somerset so it seems right that I should learn this ancient skill. You may have seen or heard of The Willow Man, a statue in celebration of willow by Serena de la Hey, it's situated near Bridgwater, Somerset
As far as products go, I know the shops are full of very pretty basket ware which is very popular now, especially in bathrooms and for storage of all types. However as with a lot of things, it's mostly imported, UK grown and crafted basket ware is fantastic, and has a smell all of its own, not one of preservative or whatever these cheaper baskets smell of - I personally would rather have one hand crafted Somerset basket than 4 from China. No, I'm not working on behalf of the Somerset Willow Trade, I'm just temporarily on my support local crafts people soapbox! ;-)
Somerset Levels, home of Willow growing for centuries



I remember having written this that I've blogged about willow a year or so ago, however it's worth repeating I think. I'm very interested in traditional crafts as I'm sure a lot of you are. If you would like to read more, here is a link to The Heritage Crafts Association.

Thank you for putting up with my ramblings, a bit random this week... from Kosta Boda to Willow weaving down the road but hey, life's like that isn't it?, you start off on one path and veer off onto another :-)   Di x









3 comments:

  1. What stunning glass thanks for sharing those. Agree often fancied a go at weaving myself, maybe one day, can almost smell it now..

    Lynda

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  2. Lovely blog. Whereabouts do you live in Somerset? I live in Wellington but work in Bridgwater.

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  3. lovely post =] i really like the 1st glass one, it's fab! thanks for sharing these

    x

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