About
My story
"I have always had a passion for weaving; I love the repetitive action and yet the need for focus, the symmetry and patterns, the simplicity and creativity."
My weaving journey began when I was given a pegloom as a young girl, and I used local sheep's wool to make rugs and seat covers.
In 2007 I went on a basketmaking day course where I was introduced to the wonders of willow - I was hooked!
Later that year as a family we moved to Ynys Enlli (Bardsey), a small island off the tip of the Llŷn Peninsula in Wales where we ran the farm and managed the land for conservation. During the long isolated winter months I continued to explore weaving baskets, using willow harvested from the traditional withy beds and wool from the flock of Welsh mountain sheep that we looked after.
We moved back to the mainland in 2018, and now live near the tip of the Llŷn Peninsula. Weaving is still an important part of the rhythm of my life: every basket I make is woven with love and joy, and are made from willow grown locally, as well as other foraged materials such as driftwood, natural fibres and shells.
Jo Porter
A sustainable craft
Willow basketmaking uses natural materials, grown and harvested locally, to make baskets that are strong and durable. At the end of the basket's life, it will decompose, leaving no trace to pollute the planet..
From withy to basket…..
Willow baskets provide the ideal alternative to the ubiquitous plastic container and can be made into almost any receptacle: cradles and coffins, log and laundry baskets, shopping and storage containers...willow is such a versatile and durable material whilst also being completely biodegradable. This shift towards the sustainable container has led to a resurgence of an ancient craft which uses traditional techniques to transform material harvested from the land into items that are useful and beautiful.
'The marvel of a basket is in its transformation, its journey from wholeness as a living plant to fragmented strands and back to wholeness again as a basket. A basket knows the dual power of destruction and creation that shape the world'
from Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer