Russian Birch Bark Weaving Tutorial with Vladimir Yarish. #996-0506. 2 days.

The Adirondack Folk School is pleased to welcome scholar, artisan and teacher Vladimir Yarish, of Veliky Novgorod, the capitol of Novgorod Province, Russia to teach this tutorial course. After scouring museums and archaeological sites all around the world, Vladimir has authored a definitive guide focused on the history and myriad traditional uses of birch bark, as well as general instructions for basket-making and plaiting. This tutorial course welcomes basket makers and weavers of varied levels for two days of instruction in a wide variety of projects. Students will gain insight into Vladimir's approach to preparing bark and choose from any of 20 birch bark projects, including decorative and useful, traditional and contemporary options. NOTE: The materials fee is due to the instructor at the time of class and is based on which projects the student selects. Materials fees will be in the range of $40 - $150. Vladimir has gathered by hand all birch bark and roots in the dangerous Russian forest full of hungry mosquitoes where he watches for big Russian bears! He cleans, prepares and cuts the bark to size as needed for the various weaving projects. He digs the spruce roots, scrapes and peels the bark away and splits into long pieces. Using a knife, he hand carves all wooden pieces such as the tops for the bottle. He individually hand fits the tops to the students' baskets. Vladimir's special handmade Russian kostiks will be lent to students for use in classes. Photos are just a few examples of the basket choices.