Connect with Nature and Create Your Own Basket
With Valeria Castellet
In this three-hour workshop, Valeria welcomes you to her home studio located on her ecological farm in the serene countryside of Llubí. Passing through the front gates, you will find an outdoor table decorated with some of Valeria’s own work. Small baskets, bowls, organic woven sculptures… You will soon start to understand why this beautiful and functional technique has been passed down from generation to generation since the Neolithic era, 12,000 years ago.
Your weaving expert, Valeria, will begin by explaining a little behind the sustainable sourcing of her materials which she collects locally around her property. Valeria will show you which plants to use (palm tree, phormium, bananas, lilies), how to find them and the treatments she uses to make them into fibres ready for weaving. Valeria uses the coiling technique, securing long fibres of plants with stitches of rafia or linen to create a strong circular structure. Once you take your own needle, fibre, and rope – it’s time to get weaving!
Easy-going and very funny, Valeria uses her 30 years of experience to help guide you through the process. As you thread, weave, and add fibres to your spiral, you will notice your piece taking shape over the. Once you get in the weaving “zone”, the satisfying repetition of the technique will become almost second nature. If you can’t finish before the end of the three hours – don’t fret! Valeria will have some materials for you to take back home to continue your piece.
But before you leave, don’t forget to check out the inside of Valeria’s beautiful wooden cabin. There you’ll find her intimate home studio, beautifully adorned with woven templates and the remnants of works yet to come. It feels like a secret creative hideaway separate from the busy world.
