Artisans of Dartmoor - Book - Page 84
PREVIOUS PAGES: A lampshade
which Katherine modelled on a
rook’s nests, and two prototype
shopping buggies inspired by
swifts’ nests.
ABOVE: It took Katherine two
weeks to weave this four-metre-long
triceratops for a fernery at the top
of Devon’s Canonteign Falls.
RIGHT: Years of experience have
taught Katherine how to process
willow so that it can be bent and
shaped. Before it’s pliable enough to
weave, she soaks it for several days
in a cattle trough in the graveyard
outside her chapel studio.
84
As a decorative flourish, she embellishes them with
delicate catkins that dance in the slightest breeze, or
pussy willow, with its soft, furred, snow-white tips.
Built around a frame, each shade, when illuminated,
casts atmospheric dappled shadows onto walls and
ceilings. “Weaving a nest with foraged finds, just as
birds do, makes me realise how incredibly creative and
hard-working they are,” she says.
Katherine’s newest project is shopping buggies,
modelled on the neat, sculptural nests of robins,
greenfinches and swifts. Once she’s perfected the
woven structure, Katherine plans to fit them with
a lichen-coloured waterproof interior and wooden
wheels, sourced from a traditional toy maker.
First, though, she has a new commission to begin –
a Dartmoor pony for a private garden. “The last time
I made a pony, it was for someone who kept horses.
As soon as we put it in the field, the whole herd came
running up to greet it, as if it were a new member.
That was the ultimate compliment.” So it’s not just
dogs that are fooled, then.
The Willow Weaver • Katherine Miles
