I was in WA for 2 weeks over Xmas and New Year and had a wonderful time, the most relaxed I have been for many years! I did manage to squeeze in a basketry workshop at Art Geo in Busselton. The preparation for this workshop started in August 2020 when dad collected, dried and stored arum lily. Arum lily is a noxious weed in Busselton and so using it in basketry is a great way to highlight the problems associated with this environmental weed! After rescheduling the date once (or twice) we finally went ahead with the workshop on Tuesday January 3. Two participants collected their own arum lily and were generous sharing their collections with the rest of the group. Kathryn shared her experiences with an arum lily eradication project that she was involved with 2 decades ago, the financial cost and the challenge they had to attempt to find a long term solution.
I loved this beginners coiled basketry workshop, arum lily being perfect for the task. It is soft to work with and when participants top and tailed two pieces they made a really great sized coil that was stitched easily with a range of painted and waxed threads. Just under half of the baskets were finished in this day long workshop, and most only needed another row or 2 until they were complete. This was highly unusual as coiling is a labour of love and can take at least 2 days to finish!
Have a look at the photos and make sure you scroll down to see Aimee’s daughter use her new basket to collect the eggs!
Jodie Goldring 
It was lovely to be involved in the collection process and to meet and talk to the group of enthusiastic ladies on the day of the workshop.
Well done Jodie !!
Dad x
I really appreciate your help with the workshop Dad! The participants loved your “guest appearance” to chat about the collection process.
What a great workshop with a group of very enthusiastic weavers !!
I really enjoyed being involved!!
Phil