2020 - our eighth year of Weaving by the Sea and fifth year at the at the excellent Cesar Hotel in Vilanova I La Geltru, Catalonia, Spain.
Unfortunately due to the COVID pandemic travel restrictions many of participants were unable to attend and our tutor Mai
Hvid Jørgensen had to cancel her courses. However we were able to go
ahead with four of our courses with everyone who was able to travel
safely to Vilanova I La Geltru.
1st Courses: Friday 25th - Sunday 27th September
- Willow Backpacks with Mònica Guilera
- Ply Splitting - bags, baskets and wall pieces with Tim Johnson
2nd Courses: Tuesday 29th September - Thursday 1st October
- 'Cofe' basket in the 'Nansa' Fishtrap Technique with Mònica Guilera
- 'Camel Looping' from North Africa - baskets and mats with Tim Johnson
Workshop Details - 1st week
Friday 25th - Sunday 27th September 2020
Willow Backpacks
with Mònica Guilera
Friday 25th - Sunday 27th September 2020
Ideal for picnics, shopping at the grocery store or a day on the beach these attractive and light weight backpacks feature a traditional Catalan base combined with split willow skein sidings and a bundle border borrowed from traditional fishing baskets. You will design your own colour combinations of leather straps and border stitching to create your own individual and sustainable statement.
If time allows some participants may go on to make round baskets with split Canya (Arundo donax) siding and a bundle border - the perfect accompaniment for your backpack for bread and fruit.
Ply Splitting - bags, baskets and wall pieces
with Tim Johnson
Friday 25th - Sunday 27th September 2020
When ropes, strings and cords made up of two or more elements are divided and another element passed through, a very simple and useful weaving structure is made. When this process is repeated with many ropes or strings a whole world of textile creativity opens up. This family of techniques went unnoticed by textile artists in the west until the 1980s when it was researched and popularised by the master weaver Peter Collingwood.
In this workshop you will work on a variety of projects with both hand made rush cordage and coloured cotton cordage exploring ply-split braiding and ply-split darning to create bags, baskets and wall pieces with a variety of colour and texture combinations.
Workshop Details - 2nd Week
Tuesday - Thursday, 29th, 30th September & 1st October 2020
'Cofe' basket in the Mediterranean 'Nansa' Fishtrap Technique
with Mònica Guilera
Tuesday - Thursday, 29th, 30th September & 1st October 2020
The Mediterranean is home to a beautiful and distinctive technique of weaving used by fishermen to make a variety of fishing baskets and traps. In Catalonia ‘Nansa’ fish traps were made in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on the kind of fish they wanted to catch, the traps were usually made in the winter with a very tough kind of rush (Juncus acutus) as well as split cane (Arundo donax) and olive stems.
In this workshop you will learn to make a ‘cofe’ , a round basket that was used to place the fishing lines and hooks in preparation for line fishing. This basket will give you a good grounding in this very special technique based on triangles combining willow with a variety of colourful threads.
'Camel Looping' from North Africa - baskets and mats
with Tim Johnson
Tuesday - Thursday, 29th, 30th September & 1st October 2020
In this workshop you will learn a special two element looping structure from North Africa used for camel equipment to make your own handbags, baskets and mats. During the course you will use a variety of soft plant materials including water hyacinth, split rush, cyperus sedge and esparto grass, additional passive elements may also be used for greater rigidity.
