For the Guild’s April General Meeting, Aleut artist Ceara Lewis will share her art journey - where she started and how she continues to grow and learn new art practices. She will start with how she learned to weave from Connie Graves and later Greg Archuleta, both members of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. This led to an apprenticeship under respected carver Greg Robinson, Chinook. Says Ceara: “The melding of traditional and contemporary art forms is a metaphor for resilience of Native people in their ability to honor their traditional practices and values while adapting to Western lifestyles. My art is an extension of my Aleut heritage and the final products of my work are the stories and lessons from my relatives and ancestors that I wish to share with the world.”

Did you see the call to artists for CBBG’s recycled materials show? Would you like to participate but don’t know how to get started with repurposed materials? Or maybe you’d just like to play with alternative materials and create basketry forms. In this class we will be using a large variety of materials that were gathered before they landed in the landfill. We will talk about how to spot useable materials, where to source discarded items, and how to clean and process the ones we have. We will then be using a number of basketry techniques to create one-of-a-kind woven vessels. We will use combinations of twining, plaiting, and coiling to create our sculptural baskets. Come start or further explore working with recycled materials! The size of your piece will vary from 2" to 12".

Choose from an array of colorful gourds, cords, and threads to create this project. Coiling techniques used are: open, closed, and floating. Your mailed kit will include pre-finished gourd, hand-dyed Danish cord, waxed linen thread, drill bit, needle, Tiger Tape, beads, and step-by-step color instructions. Your completed project will measure 5-1/2"h x 5-1/2"w.

Stand out in the crowd with this colorful tote you've crafted for your next outing! Select from three vibrant color schemes, each featuring a matching leather handle. The tote's height is adjustable—add more rows of weaving for a taller tote that can hold numerous items, or fewer for a compact version ideal as a purse. This sturdy tote starts with inserting natural and dyed reed spokes into a racetrack base. Techniques include triple twine with a step up, basic over under weave, double triple twine, 4 Rod Wale using yarn, and a traditional lashed rim. Your completed project will measure 11-13"h x 13"w x 7"d.

Using 4+ colors of 4-ply waxed linen, we will weave around an antique glass bottle. We will explore creating patterns using two and three strand twining, twining up and down to the right. Your finished project will measure 3-4"h x 2"w.

 If Cat’s Head baskets have flummoxed you, this is the class you need! Students will learn how to weave a square base with an overlay, weave the sides so that the corners are pointed from the first row, shape the sides into a globe, and rim with philodendron wreath and waxed linen.  Then Anne will show you how to shape the philodendron sheath so that it is molded to the basket. Your project will be 6.5"h x 9.5"d.

Starting with a “twisted” willow frame, create a bowl-shaped basket from willow using rib-style techniques. All steps in creating this basket will be taught in class, including: frame construction, lashing, scalloming, shaping with ribs, and weaving with willow. This is a very good basket for the beginner who wants to learn basic basketry skills with gathered materials. The dimensions of the finished basket are: 12"x12"Wx5"H

Jo Campbell Amsler, master willow weaver, will share stories about the trip she organized to work with basket weavers in Shetland, Orkney, and Scotland. Her slide show will focus on the basketry of those areas, and will include stories of those places and their people.  Jo Campbell Amsler (she/her) has been weaving baskets with willow since 1981. Her work is featured in magazines, books, and seen in exhibits across the U. S.

Do you love designing with color and pattern? Do you love wearable art? Do you love minis? If you said yes to any of the above then this is the class for you! We will design and make 1-2 tiny baskets. You will have a chance to decide on size, pattern, color, and whether or not you’d like to wear your piece(s). We will choose to work with a mix of waxed linen, embroidery thread, and wool yarn to create our pieces.

Join us online, Thursday, February 20, 2025 for a look at Pamela Becker’s exquisite coiled artworks. She will discuss her sources of inspiration, materials, and her journey into basketry. “I live in a three-dimensional world that has translated into a lifetime of working that way. Things I see are rendered in different ways but always abstractly into forms made using some sort of flexible material (be it fabric, linen & rayon threads, reed, ribbons, etc.),” Pamela Becker says. See more of Pamela’s work, by clicking here.

Gather pre-cut red osier dogwood trimmings at Hoyt Arboretum, in Portland, OR. Red osier dogwood is a native shrub of the Pacific Northwest, with beautiful shades of red, orange and green. Weave it fresh; do your project as soon as possible because the bark damages easily when dried and rehydrated. This is a free gathering for CBBG members only, however registration is required. Click this event to register.

Explore the basics of weaving a simple basket with this fun mini-heart design. This class will cover weaving a heart-shaped base with flat reed spokes, single twining the sides, and finishing with a simple lashed rim with sea grass. We will use flat reed, cane, plain & colored round reed, and sea grass. You finished project will be 5 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 2 1/4".

Join instructor Chris Bush, of Twisted Fibers Basketry, in this 3-hour online class; you will weave a miniature market-style basket. The skills you will learn are: creating an open weave base, continuous weave for the sides, a reed handle, and lashing the rim with waxed linen. Your completed piece will be about 2-1/2” wide and tall, plus handle.

Join us online for our January general meeting, with Elizabeth Kallenbach. Elizabeth is the Assistant Director of Anthropological Collections at the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History. Using archaeological examples from the Paisley Caves, Elizabeth will highlight native plants that have been used by Oregon weavers for millennia. She will also discuss the introduction of commercial fibers during the 19th century, based on baskets from the collections at the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

Like many of us, Anne Bowers discovered basketry – and the rest, as they say, is history. But unlike most of us, she turned her passion into her career. Anne, who lives in West Virginia, will be the 2025 Tidal Twinings Retreat Featured Teacher, and our December meeting will be a good time for CBBG members to meet her and see her work. Join us on Zoom. Anne will show us her studio, some of her newer baskets, and explain the style of ribbed basket weaving.

Join us for the Guild’s 2024 Basket Sale at Multnomah Arts Center! This event is open to the general public. This is an opportunity for any Guild member to sell their baskets to other members, friends, and the public. It’s also a chance for those with a little “inventory” to sell in a friendly, non-competitive atmosphere.

At the Guild’s November 2024 general member meeting, we will have a hands-on project. Barbara Kommer will teach us how to make Flo Hoppe’s reed medallion. This class is online via Zoom, and registrants will receive mailed materials.

In this short concept class, you will learn how to design and size a Sally bag using your preferred materials. We also will discuss the Native American origins of these bags, which were used for root gathering. This is an online, 3-hour workshop for those who are familiar with full-turn twining and, preferably, have made at least one Sally bag. Class will be presentation and discussion; we will not weave.

This online mini class will teach you a surprisingly simple twist on coiling. Beginning lower on the gourd, you will move up to the rim instead of starting on the rim. Use natural Danish cord and waxed linen thread to coil for the natural look you want.

In this online class you will learn how to start a pine needle basket on a decorative center using basic stitches and embellishments.

During October's General Meeting, we will talk with textile artist Barbara Shapiro. Barbara has created textile art for decades, combining rich knowledge of historical and ethnic textiles with broad technical experience in weaving, dyeing, and basketry. She will share with us the productive burst of artistic output inspired by moving her studio in January 2020 and by current personal and political events. The sequestration that Covid forced upon us all brought forth lots of new work in several series.

In this 3-hour class you will make a small pouch of deer hide that has been tanned in the traditional indigenous way - using the brains of the deer. We will sew it with artificial sinew and fit it with a drawstring neck band. 

Make 3 different willow frames (oval, rectangular and leaf-shaped) for future baskets. Frames, and the baskets/tray you can make from them, are seen in the accompanying photo. Willow handling and knife work will be taught. You will learn how to shape large willow rods into 3 different frames.

Gather cattails with the Guild, in Gaston, Oregon. There is a $10 gathering fee; the cattails are located on private land, and we will practice sustainable harvesting, leaving No Trace Behind.

A gifted set of instructors are gathering for Basket Day 2024. They will be offering 4 different classes using natural and abundant materials, along with opportunities to learn about preparing cedar bark! Learn to: prepare your own cedar bark; weave a basket with native blackberry vines; make a birch bark trinket canister; and/or weave a bark basket necklace!