Willow Weaving from Earth to Vessel

When you buy a basket from Glen Kraushar, you are truly getting a piece of the Denman Island earth. All the baskets are made entirely from willows grown on Glen’s Denman acreage—over 7000 individual trees and over 40 varieties in all, he estimates.

Glen’s baskets tend to be large—big enough for a child to hide in, or to serve as a blanket chest. Variations of colour—golds, browns, pinks, reds,  greens and yellows—and texture in the baskets come from different types of willow.

The baskets are the result of a labour-intensive 18-month process. During summer, while the willows grow, Glen is busy weeding. In December and January, he’s harvesting—on his knees, cutting each shoot at its base with loppers.

Next, he sorts the shoots into bundles according to width and lays them out on a drying rack. Drying takes six months. After that, he moves the shoots to a dark storage room, where they need to be rotated regularly to ensure air flow. When Glen is ready to weave, he re-sorts the bundles more precisely and puts them in a tank to soak.

“Willow is truly a magical plant,” says Glen. “It grows so fast—in a year it’s taller than me. It’s so beautiful, it smells great, and it’s medicinal.” The main magic, of course, is the combination of strength and flexibility that makes it perfect for weaving. “It can twist and flex and bend like no other material. And it lasts. I’m pretty sure a lot of my baskets will outlive me.”

Glen also teaches workshops where beginners can create a basket over a weekend.

Contact: Glenraven@gmail.com | 250-335-0789

See Glen’s work: Contact Glen to set up a viewing and/or look for Glen outside the Denman community hall at the Denman Christmas Craft Fair.