by Ruby Taylor | Feb 28, 2021 | Wild Basketry
It was made and laid last spring, during the first lockdown, in a town centre shrub, barely concealed, and less than half a metre from the ground. It was a time when there were few humans (or their dogs) on the streets, and would have been a good location… but...
by Ruby Taylor | Jun 12, 2019 | All Journal Entries, Wild Basketry
One of the first things you notice about Owen Jones, apart from his friendly, relaxed demeanor, is his hands: huge and work-worn. They’ve definitely seen some years of graft. I’m at his workshop in Cumbria, to make an oak swill. This is a traditional split...
by Ruby Taylor | Sep 1, 2018 | All Journal Entries, Courses, Foraging, Wild Basketry, Wild Pottery
In conversation with No Serial Number Magazine, a publication which explores environmental sustainability through traditional crafts and innovative design. We discuss my practice: my relationship to the landscape where I forage my materials, and about coping with the...
by Ruby Taylor | Apr 4, 2018 | All Journal Entries, Courses, Foraging, Wild Basketry
After a day of making cordage from foraged plant fibres, my grubby fingernails show evidence of all the separating and scraping. Once you’re committed to the steady, repetitive nature of prepping and twining cordage, it’s a deeply satisfying process. So...
by Ruby Taylor | Aug 7, 2017 | All Journal Entries, Foraging, Wild Basketry
For ages I’ve been wanting to make a pack, or back, basket from wood splints. They’re best made in the spring when the sap’s rising, so earlier this year I took a trip to the woods near Bath for a few days to make one. There’s a long tradition...
by Ruby Taylor | Mar 9, 2017 | All Journal Entries, Foraging, Wild Basketry
‘Plants are integral to reweaving the connection between land and people. A place becomes a home when it sustains you, when it feeds you in body as well as spirit.’ (Robin Wall Kimmerer) There’s an arable field margin under two ancient oaks that is species-rich with...