For our January 2023 meeting, we hosted Janine Wang to do a demonstration. Janine is a faculty member in the Fine Woodworking Department at Bucks County Community College and heads the woodturning program. A link to Janine’s website is given here. Janine demonstrated combination of woodturning and basket weaving
Janine showed us her custom design for holding the different rattan and reed bundles needed for her design. Each rattan and reed bundle can come in different thickness and shape, each bringing a distinctive pattern for weaving. She then demonstrated on a test piece how she works with the weaving material to determine the distances needed to fit the reed without breaking as you make the pattern (In the picture above).
For her demonstration piece, Janine started with a simple platter and laid out an area for where she would incorporate the reed into the rim of the platter. Janine showed us the process of measuring the spaces needed for the pattern she had chosen, drilling the holes and inserting the reeds. The reeds were softened in water before inserting into the drilled holes, making them expand and creating a very tight fit!
After all the reeds were inserted, Janine demonstrated the weaving pattern she had chosen for this platter. She did the initial weaving, then had the audience get a hands on experience of doing some weaving to finish the platter.
Janine brought in a number of examples of pieces that showed some of the possibilities of merging basket weaving and woodturning.
Janine also demonstrated starting a weave on a top of a bowl, bringing up the sides of the bowl and the aesthetics of the curve of the weaved basket portion to match the curve of the wood bowl beneath it. The merging of the basket weaving and woodturning techniques show that the possibilities are endless when combining these two art forms.