Karen Bek

I weave contemporary willow baskets by adapting traditional techniques and incorporating other foraged, found and coppiced materials to create baskets that showcase the properties of natural materials.  I only use sustainably harvested materials and grow 30 varieties of basketry willow, each selected for their different characteristics.  Through basketry, I seek to visually represent the importance of protecting  living materials and demonstrate their usefulness beyond their living state in the outdoors.  I want to show how craft work can contribute to a more sustainable and environmentally protective future.  My work as a Social and Therapeutic Horticulture practitioner has influenced how I now teach willow weaving and basketry, using the craft to promote wellbeing and therapeutic practices.  My basketry and weaving workshops are designed to encourage the practice of slow and meaningful craftwork and I deliver workshops throughout East Anglia.

• Basketry
• Contemporary
• Garden Structures
• Recycled Materials
• Traditional
• Willow (Basketry)