Birch Bark Basket Weaving

Love birch-bark woven baskets and want to spend a weekend in July with a couple of fellows who have discovered their artistic bent? Join former Fairbanksan, John Zasada and birch bark enthusiast, Charlie Mayo for a three-day workshop in Scandinavian style birch-bark basket weaving. You will harvest the bark the first day and discover some of the unique qualities of birch trees and their bark. The second and third days you will learn the satisfying art of working with birch bark to create objects that are both functional and artistic. Scandinavian style birch-bark weaving creates baskets ?double woven? from birch bark that is cut into strips and split into thin layers to create a weaving material that resembles leather. Profile: John Zasada, retired forester/silviculturist with the U.S. Forest Service, has long been a student of northern forest ecology, biology and management and finds this new aspect of the forests one he loves to share. He teaches and demonstrates at North House Folk School and local art centers in northern Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Charlie Mayo, a retired physician, is an instructor at and founding member of the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN. He has worked with birch bark for 40 years and studied with Scandinavian masters of birch bark craft.