The following post is from my imaginative, captivating and endearing husband, Eric. (I’m being excruciatingly nice since I’m trying to convince him to let our dog Chance come with us to North Carolina. As soon as he agrees, I’ll be back to picking on him.)
I have always been very interested in birch bark baskets. Birch bark has a very distinctive feel and is very flexible, making it a great basket weaving material.
I have worked with the bark just a little bit, having made five or six container-style baskets threaded with spruce root. Even with just this small amount of time working with this material, I’ve never forgotten the experience. It makes me want to go back for more. Recently, I came across a video of Vladimer Yarish to bring all the Birch bark thoughts back.
During my travels, I have met basket makers from all over the world. One basket maker that I cross paths with every now and then is Vladimir. He is a traditional, Russian birch bark basket maker from Veliky, Novgorod. He is very experienced in homeland craft. If you ever get a chance to take a workshop with him, I guarantee it will be a truly unique experience.
The following video I want to share, is of Vladimer on the subject of Russian-style birch bark weaving. I think you will find the video interesting and informative. It was taken at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota. —Eric
Thanks Cathryn for adding your blog post about the subject!!
Lynn,
So nice to have you and Eric post about Russian Birch Bark Basketmaker, Vladimir Yarish today. I was one of 10 or so students in his class at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN in March of 2010!
I made a blog post about my experience and also took lots of pictures and a few videos myself. However, I never did publish the videos and don't know where they are right now.
http://www.wickerwoman.com/russian-birch-bark-basketry-class.html
I did purchase his video on birch bark basketmaking though and thoroughly enjoy it and the opportunity to meet him. The Russian birch bark he brought was wonderful, as fellow teacher and friend, Fred Livesay commented.
The Wicker Woman-Cathryn Peters
http://www.WickerWoman.com/blog