Playing with plants

This two hour outdoor workshop is the perfect way to learn how to work with the plant material that can be found in abundance around you!

Ease into simple basketry techniques in this relaxed workshop series that is more about helping you find your own way than reaching a particular outcome or making a specific form. You will walk away with a basic understanding of how to approach basketry with local plants and the confidence to experiment and create after the workshop!

Sitting outside by the gorgeous Thornbury stretch of the Darebin Creek (Wurundjeri Country), we can take our time looking at examples of baskets and decorative artworks made with plants.  We will twist, twine, weave and fiddle with a delightful selection of weaving materials- please bring along anything you’d like to have a play with (seed heads/reproductive parts removed please!)

This workshop has been designed with the intention to help us connect with the flora and fauna in our area and create our own meaningful relationships with the land that cares for us.

Using our hands to work with natural material truly helps us feel more connected to ourselves, our bodies, our homes, our planet and each other! 

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN

• How to find, ethically harvest, dry and prepare plant fibres for use

• Various forming techniques including twining, string making, coiling, plaiting, weaving 

TOGETHER, WE WILL DISCUSS

• Weaving and fibre traditions around the world

• What the idea of custodianship and care means in a modern context

IS THIS WORKSHOP FOR ME? 

• This workshop is for everyone! You don’t have to be “creative” or have done anything like it before

• This time is particularly designed for everyone who works at a desk / works without their hands / spends lots of time indoors/ who feels burnt out or despondent or hopeless or bored

• If you feel the pull back toward the natural world and want permission to play and create without rules, formulas or expectations, this is for you!

WHAT’S PROVIDED?

• Bundles of various locally sourced plant materials for you to use

• A mat to sit on

• Needles, twine, raffia, clipboards, pegs etc. 

• Refreshments

• Tubs to soak material

• Tunes and good vibes

PLANTS WE WILL GET TO KNOW

• Cordyline Australis

• Dianella Tasmanica

• Sugar Cane

• Bangalow Palm Inflorescence

• Ivy

• Yukka

WHERE

• Weather permitting, we will meet at the end of Gooch St, Thornbury (326 Gooch St) where the road meets the walking track and we will walk together a short way to where we are set up in the park. If the weather doesn’t permit, you will be contacted with a change of location