Frances Keenan

I live in Ewyas Harold, Herefordshire, a couple of miles from the border of Wales. Here I harvest my own willow, varieties such as Dicky Meadows, Light Dicks, Dark Dicks, Harrisons Seedling, Polish Blue, Irish Black...

I wove my first basket when I was 11 in a field in Wales, and then in my twenties I moved back to live on the Somerset levels where I was brought up, and there, surrounded by ditches lined with withies I learnt this ancient craft, sometimes with the help of a teacher, mostly by sitting in my workshop making and weaving, weaving and making...

I love that you only really need a knife and a bundle of sticks to create a very useful, beautiful, sustainable object.

I make functional baskets using brown willow (unstripped willow), mostly round, oval and square work using English and Irish techniques, and I often work on commissions.

I’m involved in the Golden Valley repair cafe where I mend baskets, and I teach regular workshops in Ewyas Harold.
I also teach 1 on 1 or 2 on 1, in my workshop at home.
I’ve now been making baskets for over 30 years and enjoy passing on this ancient skill to others, including my three daughters!

Richard Hastings

I have been weaving for 10 years, after coming across a simple rigid heddle loom in an attic. I was immediately fascinated by the patterns and structures that could be developed. After a couple of years, I realised that I needed a larger loom to be able to make the rugs and blankets that I was drawn to. All of my items are hand-woven from 100% wool, sourced from Scottish mills.

More recently, I have started collaborating with Frances Keenan, making leather and willow baskets. I sew by hand, a slow but meditative process.

I originally studied Pure Maths at university. Several years later, I became interested in Blacksmithing, and this brought me to Hereford, to study at the Art College. When I started at Hereford, I wondered if had chosen a wrong path, studying mathematics for so long, but as my time at the Art College progressed, I realised that my interest in art and science was interconnected, and I bring these two aspects into the work that I produce.

I weave on a Leclerc loom, in my attic. If you are interested in seeing work in progress, you’re welcome to arrange to visit, and see my studio. I welcome commissions.