Black Ash Berry Baskets with Guest Instructor Penny Hewitt

Make your own berry basket and in the process learn one of the oldest crafts in human history.

For  thousands of years, in every culture, people have been crafting  beautiful, durable and useful vessels from the materials at hand. Carry  on the tradition and take home a beautiful, durable and useful basket  made from local and responsibly harvested, hand pounded black ash logs.

This  is a great introduction to the extraordinary qualities of the black ash  tree. Students will experience all the steps in the process, from a  demonstration of pounding the log, to weaving their own unique, square  to round basket with an optional leather strap.

Included is a discussion on identifying, choosing and harvesting a tree.

Additional Materials fee of $40 to be paid to instructor day of class. 

Penny Hewitt

Among other things, Penny is a homeschooling mom, craftsperson and  homesteader, who is inspired by the traditions of other cultures to  revitalize and share skills useful to everyday life. In an effort to  deepen her connection to the land and limit her participation in  consumer culture, she strives to grow, craft and participate in seasonal  harvests for as many of her needs and wants as possible.  She is also  grateful to be part of a generous community of talented makers and  growers with whom she trades skills, ideas and wares.  She uses hand  harvested resources from the forest, letting the qualities of varying  materials dictate their use.  You can find her teaching children and  adults all over Vermont and beyond; in private homes, on farms, at her  studio in the Northeast Kingdom, at art centers and traditional skills  schools and gatherings.