Haystack: What is a basket?

Several of the faculty in the furniture design department at RISD are associated with a craft school off the coast of Maine called Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Last year, these faculty initiated a fellowship for students in the department to attend one of the 50 or so workshops Haystack holds each summer. I wrote a proposal to attend a class called Baskets: Exploration of the Unfamiliar and won!!!

I have had a lot of really great experiences in my life and this one is right up there with the best of them. Haystack is situated among 40 acres of coastal spruce and fir trees on an island off the coast of Maine. The campus is on the National Register of Historic Places and received the 25 Year Award from the American Institute of Architecture for buildings that endure. The experience is like living in a tree house with the ocean at your doorstep.




My workshop was taught by Pat Hickman, a fiber artist who works extensively with pig gut. Although the class had the word "basket" in its title we tried to define this word broadly both in concept and technique. There was very little in the way of "how-to" and much more in the way of "why." I was just glad to have a week to explore without worrying about the quality of my work or an impending deadline.

We made a class trip to the local dump and I picked up this child's chair frame. The photo above shows the pig gut right after it has been applied and therefore still quite wet (and smelly). It dries a translucent flesh color.

My new bag made from leather scraps roughly sewn together.

This structure is made from the offcuts of lobster traps wired together. It still needs some work.

Here are my fellow studi0-mates. There were a lot of fun personalities in the group and we blended quite well. Quite a few of them are accomplished artists in their own right and the work as a whole was really strong.




There were seven workshops held in total. One of them was a class that made things out of old tin cans. The work that came out of this class was really fun and lighthearted.



I had a really great time and met some very interesting people. I recommend Haystack to anyone looking for a relaxing, creative experience and will definitely be looking to return myself. I can't thank the faculty enough for the opportunity!