Sue Kirk
The Old Brewery Studios
Basketweaver
Peterborough, United Kingdom
Featherlight willow in rocky forms
- Sue works with her own organically-grown willow to craft sculptural vessels
- She hosts basketweaving workshops and interviews makers on her Woven Lives Podcast
- Her pieces are featured at The Stratford Gallery and the BCMT Art & Furniture Gallery
Passionate about preserving regional basketry traditions, including the Huntingdon Blind School laundry basket, Sue Kirk approaches her making with a dedication to form. She crafts woven vessels using light and flexible willow rods, inspired by the wind and rain-shaped landscapes of regional sites such as Brimham Rocks. In the 1990s, Sue and her husband Kirk, who grows willow, used a horse and cart to transport her hand woven baskets to a market stall in Oundle, England. “From the beginning, we wanted to run a workshop that had no negative impact on the environment,” she recalls. In 2009, Sue and Kirk bought a disused agricultural field, where they planted an organic willow bed and woodland, encouraging the return of dozens of species of flora and fauna. From their workshop on King’s Cliffe’s High Street, Sue now hosts basketweaving workshops led by makers from across Europe.
INTERVIEW
I feel grateful that I am able to work outside and have a lifestyle that changes with the seasons. I also love the basketweaving community and the conversations I have with other makers, as well as the social history and heritage behind my craft. However, the making process still comes first: I feel most content when I am weaving.
In the UK, not many schools are dedicated to teaching basketweaving. As a result, we risk losing many of our historic patents. It is important to keep this lineage alive and pass on generations of knowledge, especially at a time when interest in basketmaking is growing so rapidly.
I used to be able to cut willow in the period between December and March. Now, due to the warm weather, the harvesting season is over before the end of February. The practice is also affected by flooding and insects.
I enjoy visiting sites like Brimham Rocks in Yorkshire or the Moors and Tors of Dartmoor, where I am surrounded by million-year-old boulders and rock formations. To me, this is the equivalent of going to a gallery or museum. I draft several drawings and take several photos, and my ideas flow from there.
