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Crafts CouncilStories

Willow talk: why basketmaker Annemarie O'Sullivan grows her own materials


ByNatasha Levy

24 March 2023

The basketry artist behind Studio Amos uses home-grown willow to create her intricately woven works


Natasha Levy

24 March 2023

  • Basketry
  • Crafts magazine
  • Sustainable craft

Annemarie O'Sullivan and Tom McWalter of Studio Amos in their East Sussex workshop. Photo: Jonathan Bassett

From a studio nestled in the tiny village of Isfield in East Sussex, Annemarie O’Sullivan and her husband Tom Mcwalter run Studio Amos – a craft workshop which creates baskets, statement lights and art installations. Every item is handmade from coppiced wood, hay, and willow wands that the couple have cultivated and harvested in their half-acre plot of land, with help from a small team.

O'Sullivan is one of seven makers featured in the spotlight section of Crafts' Spring/Summer 2023 issue, which digs into the theme of 'Growing'. Here O’Sullivan talks about the magic of growing willow and why she's carrying on an age-old tradition.


  • Basketry artist Annemarie O'Sullivan at work harvesting willow. Photo: MediaBite Group

'When I learned basket making, I was trained in a whole range of different materials and skills such as cane work and rush work, as well as various techniques like coiling, knotting and netting. We used such a wide range of materials, but for me it was so extraordinary that there was this one material – willow – with which I could just stick a cutting in the ground and produce my own. I felt such a connection to it.

The actual process of basketmaking takes up quite a lot of space, but it always gets tidied back into this neat, rule-bound object, whereby everything is woven in a careful, systematic way. I'm always looking for opportunities to take stock of that process and how the material behaves. This is why our more recent works have been much more about celebrating what the material looks like when it's tied in a knot, or when its cut ends are revealed.


A team member carrying freshly-cut willow wands. Photo: MediaBite Group

We grow about 20 varieties of willow, predominantly salix purpurea – the wands tend to be quite slender and long. What I love most is the quality of movement in them. Lots of people get really excited about colourful species of willow, but they don't do anything for me; for me, it's all about the feel.

I feel a child-like wonder at how this extraordinary plant that we've previously cut down to the ground has now fully regrown

Every single year I'm totally surprised that all the willow has grown back. I feel a child-like wonder at how this extraordinary plant that we've previously cut down to the ground has now fully regrown, just like a jungle. If we get prolonged wet periods in the summertime, the willow is more likely to get a fungal or rust infection – but we treat it biodynamically, without using pesticides.


  • Once dried, the willow is transformed into baskets and other striking home accessories by Studio Amos. Photo: Jonathan Bassett

  • Annemarie O'Sullivan at work weaving a large basket from willow. Photo: Jonathan Bassett

I feel that everything we do is rooted in what has been done before. I work with a sense of gratitude towards all the human beings in our history who have played with sticks and tried to work out how they can go together, and how they can make this process into a profession.

What's amazing about willow is that I've grown mine from 30cm cuttings that were passed on to me by other makers. Those cuttings that they were grown from were passed on, in turn, from a previous generation of makers. As soon as you start growing willow, you feel like you're part of a long line of people holding up this extraordinary tradition.'

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