Create your own Foraging Basket - perfect for mushroom hunting, hiking, gardening, or visiting your local farmer’s market! In this two-day intensive we will create tote-bag style baskets using natural and dyed rattan reed. Day one of the class will be dedicated to weaving and building the walls of the basket. Naturally dyed reed will be available to integrate color and pattern. Day two will focus on finishing techniques, shaping, and adding handles. This class will build on introductory plaited-basket making techniques and guide students working on large basket forms, shaping, basketry tools, basic patterning and designing baskets with handles. Each student will leave with their own finished basket. Finished size: 13" L x 5" W x 10" H (size is approximate). All levels welcome. Class is suitable for beginners and intermediate students.

About the instructor:

Emily Endo is a multidisciplinary artist and educator with over 20 years of experience in textiles. They hold an MFA in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art (2010) and a BFA in Fiber from the Maryland Institute College of Art (2006). Emily served as the Fibers Department Chair and an Assistant Professor at the Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland, Oregon, from 2013 to 2018. Their basketry classes explore the medium’s rich history, materials, and practical and sculptural potential. Based in Joshua Tree, California, Emily runs High Desert Observatory, a studio dedicated to offering workshops in basketry, textiles, glass, aromatics, and regenerative design. The studio’s mission is to foster sustainable connections with the natural world and promote hands-on, experiential learning.