These last few photos are mostly from my final day of walking which was to Grasmere lake. I had taken the little baskets and the wrapped pieces that I had made with me to photograph in the wild - so to speak. 

I made a couple of baskets one from reeds and one from bamboo leaves. I like the one made from bamboo leaves best.

Just finished the second weekend of open studios. So far I have really enjoyed my days meeting visitors and showing them my work. And every so often somebody comes round and there is a moment of joy when you both realise that you have met another artist who speaks the same language. For me this was my real hope when I signed up to the open studios event. 
People come in fits and starts, maybe there is no-one for an hour or so, and then a rush. It is nicest for me when they come in sequence because then I can try to show them work that connects to their interests. 
During the lulls this weekend I have been practising making coil baskets. I took down my old washing line on saturday morning and replaced it with a new one. The old one is nicely weathered and I am using a silver coloured wire to hold the baskets together. The pots/baskets/bowls are quite small, their size determined by the length of line they are made from. The length of line determined by the natural breaks which time and wear have imposed on the plastic. Making them feels like time well spent.  

I have been cutting pieces of eucalyptus bark into strips for basket weaving. I did a weekend workshop with a wonderful basket maker Mary Butcher http://www.marybutcher.net/ a few years ago, but I've not had a chance to do any basketry since. So today has been about reminding myself through trial and error, and, through that trial and error, how to play. Play is so important, for me it is almost always from that free space that the work I love the best comes about. I'm not saying the pieces I made today are works of art by any stretch of the imagination, but, after a few weeks of feeling stuck I can begin to feel a little movement. It is a testament to Mary's teaching that the methods she taught us were still in my head, and close enough to the surface for me to remember.