Tanya Doty has been crafting willow baskets from her workshop in Upper Moutere since her first basket making course with Golden Bay basketmaker Peter Greer in 2008. Largely self taught since then Tanya is firmly addicted to basket making and spends most of her days bending bundles of willow sticks into baskets.
Tanya describes her practice:
I work with willow and natural fibres which is lucky because it’s what I love to do. I started making willow baskets and have added general handy stuff to my skill set – plant supports for the garden are popular, re-seating rush and seagrass chairs is something I’ve taken on in the past year or two. I grow a small amount of basketry willow but demand far out strips supply so when that happens I use rattan cane or use other found materials like ivy, hops, virginia creeper… it’s all just a matter of matching the material to the technique or style of basket that’s being made. I cherish the connection to the earth through the materials and knowing that my hands are keeping ancient crafts alive while making useful sustainable pieces that will last for many years.
From a little vintage caravan at the end of her garden in Upper Moutere, Nelson, Tanya makes willow baskets in an array of styles and shapes.. “I work with many different fibres and types of basket making, and while I like to keep it diverse, I’m firmly addicted to willow,” says Tanya. “It’s such an old craft and it’s very cool that it still has a place in modern day life. I love the smell, and the sound it makes when I’m weaving. I love that it takes strength to construct a basket and that some of the willow I use is from my own small willow bed. I grow four varieties that have traditionally been cultivated for basket making.” For Tanya, the real joy of basketry lies in making something that’s both decorative and practical. “It’s a good feeling having made a permanent, useful household item from something that has sprung up from the earth, and when it’s finally had its day, it can go back to where it’s come from.” Tanya also enjoys experimenting with other natural fibres such as raupo, pine needles, rattan, and foraged fibres, bringing a contemporary feel to the age old craft of basket making. Finding it hard to keep her hands still Tanya has added blessing stones to her repertoire.
Tanya has completed many commissioned pieces both commercial and private, recently working with Deadly Ponies brand creating rattan handles and key charms as an addition to their handbag collection. She welcomes the interactions and exploration of techniques that come with commissions.
Tanya delights in resurrecting spent beauty, reinterpreting how natural elements are viewed and displayed. “Using what’s around me in nature I have a bounty at my fingertips. In the garden or at the beach I pounce on these treasures, already half reimagined into its other life.” Trial by experimentation and a deep seated need to have her hands in nature fuel her creative process.
Teaching
Tanya teaches throughout New Zealand, offering her first workshop in Wellington 2018, teaching Pine Needle Baskets.
She regularly co-tutors with her basket making teacher Peter Greer at his workshop in Golden Bay teaching willow baskets. Tanya has twice been tutor at the annual Go Wild With Weaving event in Golden Bay.
Regular workshops from Upper Moutere, mostly in rattan and other natural fibres are part of Tanya’s weaving life.
Her own supply of willow is growing and the round basket workshop in Opunake will be the first willow workshop she has offered.
Tanya writes about her own history of becoming a basket artist and how that informs her drive to teach :
When I first became interested in learning basketmaking pre-internet days, the craft had really fallen by the way side and I could find limited information and it was pure luck to find an actual person who could show me how to go about starting. While I understood the construction methods of a basket, it took me quite some time to be able to understand the process and how to “see” the different weaves. It was a confusing time for me but I persevered and after some time started having reasonable success. That has been what drives me to teach.
Also I love the interactions that come from a room of like minded individuals and seeing the satisfaction that comes from making a piece from start to finish. Passing on knowledge and skills is essential for crafts to continue and we really are arming ourselves with tools that can be used in other parts of our lives. Knowing how to use natural fibres opens up a whole new world of possibilities, reconnects us with nature and brings a deeper appreciation of everyday items. I enjoy seeing learners use their creativity and I always come away from a workshop with new ideas so I learn from my students and it has been that sort of learning that has really fuelled my creativity.
I recently undertook a written interview with Tanya so I could get a better understanding and knowledge of her practices. Here is a record of that interview.
What initially attracted you to basketry and stone wrapping as your artistic expressions, how was your imagination captured?
Basketry had always been present – our bassinet, the basket holding nappy pins and talcum powder, cosy comfy woven seagrass chairs at my grandparents house. Mum making baskets and furniture from plastic cane to supplement our income. All these baskets held memories of comfort and safety.
After realising that the basket I used each day was made of actual sticks rather than cane or plastic cane my curiosity was piqued. How to bend those sticks without breaking them and how did they all fit together were my initial thoughts. It was a natural material and it was old but still very functional. Knowing that it had been done many times before meant that I could do it too, I just had to find out how. Also if it was something that could be grown, maybe I could grow those materials – I was living rurally and had recently taken up gardening and discovered how being connected to nature was a good thing for me physically and mentally. I’m attracted to order and function and so it would follow that baskets could scratch my itch to make.
Stone wrapping came much later when I was searching for handle wrapping techniques and came across the work of Donna Crispin and Del Weber. The combinationation of weaving and natural materials grabbed me and I couldn’t put the thought of making these forms aside.
What or who were your early influences and how has your life/upbringing influenced your work?
I was on the tail end of generations of folk who made it themselves. Tucked away in small town New Zealand we lived a basic home based life, making do with what we had and making from scratch were fundamental to our way of life. I enjoyed cross stitch and basic embroidery and knitting from around 7 years old and had a curiosity about how things worked or were made. We spent a lot of time out in our large garden hanging out in our large weeping willow, sliding down hedges or making huts and I think it was that time that fostered a love of nature that I would always fall back on in difficult times. Combine that with growing up in Nelson in the 60s and 70s with a strong arts culture and I really was in my element. I was surrounded by handmade products and those who made them so it was a very natural thing to make and embellish.
What was your route to becoming an artist?
Years later in 2008 when I finally found someone who could show me how to make baskets I would take the nerve wracking drive over the hill to Takaka to Peter Greers workshop a couple of times a year. I went to at least 9 of his workshops, learning the same basket but building on my skills and honing technique. I would go home, get some willow from the river and practise what I had learned. Pete was very kind and would give me willow left over from workshops and would check in on me to see how I was going with my making. I continued to make baskets in my spare time, experimenting with technique and colour, all very hit and miss. In 2016 I threw in a job that was taking 60 hours a week of my time. I was a basket case and I took to making baskets as my therapy. My husband encouraged me to try selling them so I approached our local artisan cafe who were very keen to take what I made. My daughter suggested I start an Instagram page where I was able to connect with like minded folk across the globe and finally felt that I was not the only one crafting baskets and it coincided with a huge interest from the public in handmade products. I connected with Eddie Glew in England, a second generation basketmaker and managed to combine a trip to Europe for a family wedding with two days one on one tuition. At the same time I realised that my skills as a basket maker were not limited to using just willow and I found that I was surrounded with alternative fibres in my own backyard. I was constantly researching different making techniques. Using alternative fibres opened the door to a more creative way of making which coincided with the stone wrapping. At that time I lived and breathed weaving and would dream of baskets that I wanted to make. A gallery in the North Island contacted me and asked tostock my stones and baskets and then the flood gates opened.
Discussions with Eddy on passing on skills gave me the courage to start teaching. I had been making pine needle baskets and pendants and they were popular. The materials were easy to come by and transport so I started teaching pine needle baskets. After that I decided to make whatever I wanted to make and see how it was received. I saw that people were fascinated with the materials and the end results.
In your mind how do your two different disciplines of basketry and stone wrapping work as they are quite different forms of expression? Are they a counterbalance to each other or a trigger for further explorations? How does that work for you?
The stones and baskets are two separate practices for me. Each has its place in my heart and when I do too much of one, the other is a salve. The materials are interchangeable to a certain extent. When I’m waiting for the willow to soak and mellow I can wrap stones.
Tell us a bit about your process from conception to creation please.
A lot of my basket work is done on commission and basketry traditionally has certain forms for certain uses such as log baskets or shopping baskets so often that’s what I’m working on. In that case it’s just a process of determining what the baskets use will be, dimensions and colour of willow.
In preparation for a workshop I’ll remake the type of basket we’ll be making and explore fibres and techniques, that can be a time when I have a lot of inspiration. When I’m running a workshop the students’ use of colour or approach is very exciting for me and I really value that as I often work in solitude. Usually the materials inspire me and a walk on the beach has been a great way to shake things up. I have a half imagined idea of what the found thing might be and that’s a very exciting time for me. Pieces often get put aside, half made until a new material inspires me or a gap in time allows for more exploration. When I’m making I want to show the material’s beauty, often it’s not alway apparent and it’s my intention that presenting it in a new way will allow it to shine.
You have a wide range of patterns and arrangements and objects in your portfolio of works can you describe some of your chosen techniques and how you choose to use them?
Most of my works involve some sort of weaving technique. Generally I’ll use something like twining to hold things together or in the stones, traditional knots or wraps like the butterfly knot or a godseye.
What currently inspires you?
Knowing that interest in basketry and other older crafts is growing worldwide inspires me to teach. And knowing that it connects us to the land and to our deeper selves is also an inspiration for teaching. That in itself is something that I can pass on and if it sparks as much joy and discovery in others as it did in me then I am very inspired. Another inspiration is the want to hone my skills and technique. I think also just the joy of making gets me into my workshop every day, sometimes not knowing what is going to emerge, but knowing that something new will be here that existed in a different form previously.
Is there a piece of your work that holds particularly fond memories for you and why?
The square basket I made with Eddy Glew in England is a basket that holds great memories. Making contact with a basketmaker outside of New Zealand was a big step for me in itself. Overcoming the difficulties of traveling to Eddys on my own and experiencing some very kind hospitality from strangers was a time of great personal growth, a time of setting my future into motion. It was the first real square basket I had ever accomplished and I learnt so many new techniques but mostly it holds all those memories and my hopes and dreams of being a basketmaker.
How has your work developed since you began and how do you see it evolving in the future?
I’m more likely to explore how techniques can be applied in different situations so I suppose I have become braver about experimenting in all aspects of my making. I don’t have any certain view of where my practise will take me, although I do intend to knuckle down and get some more traditional basketry done as I seem to have veered of into a more contemporary vein.
What advice would you give an aspiring artist?
Just start, don’t be afraid to tell people what you’re doing and the right people will come along. Find a way to do what you do regularly so your skills can grow. Know that there are many different ways to do a thing and there might not be a right way or a wrong way, just your way.
What is something you cannot take your eyes off when you see it – that fascinates and mesmerises you?
Fine lines in weaving – they can be wispy or structured but my eye is always captured by them.
What is your favourite way to unwind or de-stress
Usually a walk in nature is a good antidote to anything that’s stressful. Socialising is always a good way to get rid of the blahs but some days it’s just lying on the grass and watching the clouds that brings equilibrium.
Exhibitions
Finalist Changing Threads 2019
Garden Delight Kina Gallery New Plymouth 2021
Go Wild With Weaving Monza Gallery Takaka 2022
Go Wild With Weaving The Art Vault Takaka 2023
Guest Artist Wall to Wall Gallery 2023
Follow
You can see Tanya’s creations on her Instagram page @heartstonebaskets.