A GOOD HARVEST is a five hour basket weaving workshop facilitated by artist and basket weaver Shelley Krycer including foraging and weaving a rustic basket out of ivy.

About this workshop
The turning of the seasons invites us into the quiet rhythms of becoming - a time to notice what has been growing, what is ready to be gathered, and what wishes to be carried forward. This workshop offers a space to come together with the grounding practices of harvesting plant material from the land and working it to become a beautiful rustic harvest basket.

Making use of Common ivy sourced on site, we will work with a pan cultural twining technique to weave our baskets. Using this invasive and fast growing plant, we will offer support to the land, even if in a minute way, to move towards balance. The rhythmic process of weaving will simultaneously work some balance into us through the slow and mindful work of our hands.

From this workshop, you will take home the basket you have started, or may complete on the day, some extra fibres to keep you going and an awareness of how to forage and work with ivy as a weaving material yourself but more importantly, I hope you take home with you the embodied experience of this craft, of sharing it mindfully in a circle and a curiosity to explore and meet the living landscapes around you anew with the sensitive eyes and hands of a weaver.

Event details
Private Warrandyte location, Wurundjeri Country, given upon booking.

This workshop be offered on the following dates:

Sundays: Sept 13th / Oct 4th / Nov 8th 2026
11am - 4pm

Tuesdays: Sept 8th / Oct 6th / Nov 17th 2026
9:30 - 2:30pm

$120 full / $100 concession or bring a friend / $80 supported or returning weaver 

Reach out if cost is prohibitive yet this calls to you deeply or if you would like to sponsor a ticket for someone who cannot afford this workshop.

This workshop is also available for a private group of 5+ participants.

Who this workshop is suitable for 
You don’t need any experience in weaving or any particular creative process to attend this workshop, just a curiosity and a feeling that this practice speaks to you. On the other hand, I anticipate that creators, makers, artists and weavers will find that this circle offers nourishment; be it the techniques, harvesting and preparation processes or the simple act of creating and connecting within the circle. Feel free to reach out if you would like to discuss if this workshop is suitable for you.

Photography 
Photographs may be taken during this workshop. By attending, you provide consent to be photographed and to having these photographs used for promotional purposes only. Please notify me if you wish to be excluded.

A special note on working with ivy
Some people occasionally have a sensitivity to working with Common ivy. This plant is not Poison ivy which grows in North America however some people find it mildly irritating to their skin when handling it. Gardening gloves are a recommended item to bring along particularly if your skin tends to be more sensitive. I choose to utilise ivy in this context as it is an invasive that is detrimental to the ecosystem within this local context and therefore makes a fantastic material to use to learn these techniques which can later be applied to a wide range of other weaving materials.

Cultural sensitivity
 We must acknowledge that there is complexity in working with weaving on stolen land; a practice that is so culturally rich and intertwined with the sacred. I acknowledge the traditional practices of Indigenous weavers who have woven these lands since time immemorial and have developed and refined basket weaving practices over this time. I am not an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person and Indigenous weaving, stories and lore is not the content of this workshop. I stand as an ally to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, striving to avoid cultural appropriation in my offerings as a workshop facilitator and in my life more broadly. I am happy to refer you to Indigenous weavers who you can learn from and remunerate fairly for their work if this is what you seek.

Facilitator bio
 Shelley Krycer is a visual artist based on Wurundjeri country who came to basket weaving over 15 years ago. When she did, Shelley found that her hands had a sense of ‘returning’ to something that they had long known. They wove and wove, and continue to weave, with a sense of remembering and learning with each stitch. Working as she does primarily with foraged and home grown plant materials has brought an additional layer to her practice; an ongoing, living relationship with the natural world. Through her weaving practice Shelley finds that she is able to listen to, observe, participate and deepen her sensitivity to the eco-systems around her, working cyclically across the seasons. Shelley’s process-based art making practice which includes basket weaving alongside painting and other nature based art processes is informed by trainings within a Fine Arts (Honours) degree she completed in 2004 (Monash University) as well as studies in Art Education (Grad Dip Ed. Melbourne University), Permaculture (Advanced PDC with Peter Allen) and Steiner Education (Advanced Diploma, Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar). Shelley has been teaching art and facilitating workshops since 2004 and sharing basket weaving workshops since 2014. She has been invited to bring this work to festivals such as Seven Sisters and The Village Continuum, as part of programs hosted by Nature’s Apprentice as well as facilitating weaving circles for groups of people at significant moments and transitions. Shelley is continuously moved by the depth of presence, nourishment, connection and joy that sharing these processes and practices in circles brings.

instagram: @shelleykrycer
facebook: Shelley Krycer - artist
website: www.shelleykrycer.com
email: hello@shelleykrycer.com

I respectfully acknowledge the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation, who are the Traditional Owners of the land on which this workshop will be run, pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging, and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.

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