Meet Wesley, Hege & Samson—Community Events at Woodspirit School
Relief Carved Birch Bark Canister lid by Wesley Hathaway
Meet Wood Carver Wesley Hathaway
Tonight!
Thursday, August 21 at 6pm
Craft Night with Wesley Hathaway
1400 3rd St W, 2nd floor, Ashland, WI
Wesley is a professional craft instructor and wood carver who apprenticed with Master Carvers Phil Odden & Else Bigton of Norsk Wood Works . He lives in Grand Marais, MN and will be teaching Relief Carving August 22-24 at Woodspirit School.
Wedding Spoon Commission by Wesley Hathaway
Have you ever met a traditional Norwegian basketmaker?
Jarrod Dahl, Hege Aasdal, & Samson Øvstebø in Norway, 2024
Next we’ll be hosting basket weavers
Hege Aasdal & Samson Øvstebø
from Norway
Craft Night Potluck
Instructor Meet & Greet
Thursday, September 4 at 6pm
Hege’s class on Norwegian Vedmeis—Split Willow Basketry is sold out, but you can still meet Hege and learn about her work and craft at the Craft Night Potluck Instructor Meet & Greet. We offer these events so that the community can meet our instructors who are interesting, dedicated, and highly skilled craftspeople from all over the world.
Hege Iren Aasdal is a prolific basket weaver, instructor, and preservationist. With fellow basket weaver, Samson Øvstebø, Hege has been weaving and teaching the many basket traditions of Scandinavia, as well as harvesting, splitting and processing a wide variety of basket materials such as Juniper, Hazel, Willow, Birch Root, Linden Bast, Pine, and Rush.
We spent time with Hege and Samson during our Scandinavian Basketry trip in 2024 (funded by a grant from ASF) where we harvested and split willow to make Vedmeisand Skruk.
We are honored to have these two powerhouses at Woodspirit School in collaboration with North House Folk School.
Vombakorg basket, Hege Aasdal
Norwegian snik basket for carrying fish by Hege Aasdal
The knutkorg is unique with a bent notched and interlocking framework and sides filled with split wood. The frame is constructed of pieces that fit together like an ingenious puzzle and is truly a craft marvel. In this 3-day class you will learn how to bend wood, carve precise, but simple joinery and split cedar. This will be a fun and challenging project for all skill levels.
Swedish Picnic Basket
——October 24-25——
——June 4-7——Korgar: Scandinavian Split Willow Baskets with Jarrod Dahl
$375.00
Related Courses: Basketry Courses
Dates: Thursday to Sunday, June 4-7, 2026 9am-5pm
Optional: Wednesday, June 3 Korgar: So Many Scandinavian Baskets! Craft Night Series slideshow & basket collection exhibition plus splint making demonstration with Jarrod Dahl.
Description: Inspired by Scandinavia’s rich basketry traditions this 4-day class will explore a few of the many forms of split material baskets found in Sweden and Norway. In general, baskets styles from around the world are directly related to their intended use, but the availability of specific materials also has a big influence on the shapes and styles. In Scandinavia, thin flat “splints” were commonly used to make baskets for the activities and needs of rural farm life. These splints were hand split and shaved from larger shrubs like willow and hazel.
We will begin this workshop by learning about where to gather, harvest and process larger willow saplings into rough splints. We will spend a good portion of the time splitting and prepping willow for weavers. We will focus on two splitting methods—hand splitting and the use of a splitting brake—a simple jig used to help with leverage while splitting. We will then focus on shaving the rough splints into smooth weaving material for our baskets. After the weaving materials are made students can choose which basket to make from the available basket designs offered.
Here are a few examples:
a plank bottom handled Swedish picnic basket
a small plank bottom backpack with leather straps
a skruk ( a Swedish type of basket woven backwards from rim to base) or
a vedmeis, a Norwegian two handled utility basket
Some students may not be able to make all the split material needed for their project. Extra rough split material will be available for purchase by students as needed in addition to the basic material fee associated with the basket design you choose to make.
This class is for basket lovers, basket weavers and woodworkers alike.
Tools to Bring:
Pruning Shears (Okatsune recommended)
Optional: Craft knife (Morakniv 106 or 120 recommended)
Workshop fee: $375
Material fees:
Please note that material fees vary by project chosen, and can be paid in cash during class.
Plank bottom baskets without handle $25, with handle $50
Pre-bent and dried handles for vedmeis $25
Veg Tan leather straps for backpack $TBD
Extra splints ~$35-75 depending on quantity used
Jarrod Dahl received a grant in 2024 to study Scandinavian Basketry through the American Swedish Foundation.
JARROD DAHL is a full-time craftsperson, teacher, and writer. Jarrod has extensive knowledge of harvesting and processing natural materials, forging and using hand tools, and making a wide variety of craft from basketry to canoes. He began making black ash baskets in 1997 and has since made many kinds of baskets including birch bark, knutkorg, split willow, pine splint, and root. He studied with basket weavers Steen Madsen, Hege Aasdal, Bjorn Majors, Vladimir Yarish and Scogin Zimmerman-Mayo. He takes a philosophical, historical and pragmatic approach to making, teaching, and advocating for handcraft. Jarrod writes a blog on craft and runs Woodspirit Handcraft with his wife in Northern Wisconsin. www.woodspirithandcraft.com instagram: @jarrod__dahl @woodspirithandcraft
4 available