Ely Basketmaker

Gallery

The following are photos of me,my work and the willow beds growing and being harvested.As 2023 starts I am not teaching Basketry skills, but will be later on this year.If you are interested in learning or solidifying particular techniques then please do email me elybasketmaker@gmail.com to discuss your ideas.

I am designing and making again after a sabbatical for study. New products will appear on the website this Spring.Likewise if you wish to commission a piece please email me to discuss. The Willow harvest is underway so the first few weeks of January are busy and I will be in a field rather than the studio so please be patient for replies to queries.

Wishing old and new customers and students a peaceful and fulfilling 2023. The Worshipful Company of Basketmakers motto is “Let us love one another”. Nadine Anderson, Yeoman Basketmaker.

Nadine Anderson with Willow Eel Hives & Potato Cobs
Fine Rush Baskets & Mats with Tools of the Trade
Round Rush Large Bread Basket- Double Checked Weave Centre
Rush Storage Basket woven in Twill Weave with Sandwich Fold & Sew Border-made on a mould
Interior of a Rush Humbug Basket woven in Burkina Plait
Willow Egg Baskets in White & Dickie Meadows
Willow Swallows & Swifts
Rush Tote in Twill Weave with Leather Handles- made on a mould
White Willow Mending Baskets and Hanging Storage Basket with Plaited Rush as Side Weave
Buff & Dickie Meadows Willow Berry Basket with asymmetric border and cobnut handle
Zigzag weave
Detail of zigzag weave in white and Dickie Meadows willow
Cambridgeshire Rush Bucket Tote with leather handles
Rush Humbug Baskets woven in the Burkina Plait or Neolithic Plait Technique.This basket is the project I designed and wrote a chapter for the Rush Basketry- Weaving With Eight Makers Book published by The Basketmakers Association.

Rush Reindeer
Nadine Anderson in her studio with Rush Totes and Willow Handbag Basket
The Willow Bed in December 2022 waiting for the leaves to drop so harvest can commence.
Harvesting Dickie Meadows willow by hand January 2023
Harvested willow bundled ready to be brought back to the Wardy Hill studio January 2023
Dickie Meadows willow sorted by length of rod in the studio January 2023
Busy studio with sorted bundles ready to be put into the shed and Pumpkin Log Baskets fresh off the plank
Weaving a Pumpkin Log Basket on the plank, tools and materials close at hand on the floor beside me.
Green Man Costumes
Worshipful Company of Basketmakers Float in the Lord Mayors Show 2018 Rush Green man costumes made and worn by Nadine Anderson. It was the company’s 450th year and I was honoured to be a part of marking this significant date.
Harvesting Rush from the bank on the Old Bedford river
Cut rush being carried up the river bank
Rush harvest happens in the Summer
Exploding Rush Sphere made in Cambridgeshire Rush using twining techniques
Log basket in English rand side weave
White willow basket suitable as a wet washing basket or as a log basket
Interlaced Trio
Trio of Interlaced Rush and Juncus Effusus Forms
Cambridgeshire Rush basket with lid-additional stakes detail forming star pattern
Round Rush basket with lid with the flower heads still attached
Rush placemats woven with twill weave centres, pairing weave and a rolled threaded away border.
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