Artist weaves her way to success

FROM a young age Angela Cole always knew she wanted to work with her hands but struggled to find a way to express herself.

After leaving school she went into the care industry using her craft skills as therapy work but it was when Angela meet her partner Geoff Norton in her thirties that her life changed direction.

The pair, moved to Whitwell-on-the-Hill and then to Westow to pursue their love of craft work setting up Yorkshire Hurdles 15 years ago.

From mainly concentrating on garden fencing and unique gates, Angela and Geoff, who have a 16-year-old daughter and son aged nine, have taken their talents in different directions.

While Geoff continues to make hand crafted fencing and gates from sustainable English woodland materials using traditional craft skills and individual designs, Angela has developed her willow weaving and particularly baskets.

One of the few craftspeople to make their living from willow weaving, Angela has developed her talents into an art form as well as a practical item.

"Baskets went out of fashion at one point and people tended not to use them but people are now going back to more sustainable ways with a lot of things and with the plastic bag having its day are being uses again," she added.

"There is also the increasing use of wood and log burners baskets which are becoming more popular - baskets have so many functions and are beautiful to look at as well."

Angela sources her willow from the Somerset Levels where the majority is grown.

“It’s a very ancient discipline and there are a number of weaving techniques from traditional to contemporary styles and I dabble in all of them," she added.

" The willow is harvested and then dried, then I re-soak what I need for my week’s work. That makes the willow flexible and pliant. It’s a very interesting material as it is the only material that will re-absorb water into its cellular structure and become as flexible as it was when it was growing."

Angela said she was inspired by her rural locality.

"My recent work has explored the combination of fleece and found hedgerow materials with woven willow, to introduce colour and texture variation," she added.

"I use local, natural materials, to give my work a connection with place and life cycles. For me, the physical skills involved in the making are an integral part of the creative process.

"My practice integrates myself and my work into the natural world.2

Angela also shares her talents by running a series of will courses based at Howsham Mill.

"I've been involved with the mill project from the start and it's a fantastic place to work and the courses focus on learning skills and enjoying creativity," she added.

Her baskets have been exhibited at Bils and Rye in Nunnington and this summer Angela will take place in the annual North Yorkshire Open Studios Event.

"Westow is a really good base for us and the business and Geoff has converted one of the buildings into a workshop so I can show my work at events like the Open Studies," Angela said.

"I was delighted to be accepted and hope it will prove to be another point of interest."

• SOME of our earliest manufactured items may have been made from willow. Basic crafts, such as baskets, fish traps, wattle fences and wattle and daub house walls, were often woven from osiers (rod-like willow shoots, often grown in coppices).

One of the forms of Welsh coracle traditionally uses willow in the “lats”.

Thin or split willow rods can be woven into wicker, which also has a long history. The relatively pliable willow is less likely to split while being woven than many other woods, and can be bent around sharp corners in basketry.

Willow wood is also used in the manufacture of boxes, brooms, cricket bats (grown from certain strains of white willow), cradle boards, chairs and other furniture, dolls, flutes, poles, sweat lodges, toys, turnery, tool handles, veneer, wands and whistles.

In addition, tannin, fibre, paper, rope and string can be produced from the wood.