Skip to main content
Search

Annemarie O'Sullivan

Modern basket maker based in Sussex

About 12 years ago I did a one-day course in basket making. I went to bed that night dreaming of willow and weaving. I became obsessed and began to seek out makers I wanted to learn from, both in Britain and abroad. It is a slow craft… I will be learning forever.  

I am now a basket maker, working mainly with willow and coppiced wood.

I have a range of domestic baskets and can also work to commission. I grow my own willow, which is pesticide free.

My passion is in all things woven, knotted and netted. I make baskets and love to transfer the traditional skills of basket making into larger woven forms. 

My work is rooted in the ancient craft of basket making. I use weaving and binding techniques, which have been used for hundreds of years to create domestic objects through to larger architectural woven forms. Working mainly with machined or coppiced wood, willow and hay, I like to have my feet on the earth. I make forms and spaces, which are a response to materials I grow and gather from the land.

Commissioning Annemarie

Annemarie’s willow wigwams, and woven willow balls make practical and sculptural statements in the vegetable and flower garden.

She also works in schools sharing her ideas, and exploring and discovering new ways to involve children and young people. She teaches adults traditional basket making skills. She is passionate about this historic British craft but is engaging with these traditions in a contemporary and modern way. She is one amongst a new wave of basket makers who are not only hoping to revive this tradition, but to also build upon it – merging history with contemporary design to create inspiring pieces that bring a new perspective to the basket world. 

Annemarie's passion for all things woven, knotted and netted - click to view

Annemarie O'Sullivan

Sussex