Crafting with Care,
Rooted in Nature & Heritage
Hi,
I'm Shannon, a woodland craft practitioner based in the UK, specialising in Pole-lathe Turning and Split Wood Basketry.
I design and make wooden bowls, baskets and homeware that compliments contemporary homes, creating moments of pause and bringing nature closer to you.
I honour heritage crafts, work with nature’s seasons and use regeneratively sourced wood.
I teach these skills and create safe spaces where people can connect with traditional skills, celebrate creativity and form sensory experiences grounded in making with natural materials.
My Craft Practice
My practice is rooted in material-led making, beginning in the woodland with the harvest and preparation of raw timber, and continuing through hand-tool processes to create functional objects. This is reflected in the seasonal rhythms of my craft and online shop updates.
My making practice has centred pole-lathe turning, seeing it come from an endangered to viable heritage craft, found on The Red List of Endangered Crafts. During this time I continued to grow and develop my knowledge and skills in critically endangered split wood basketry techniques.
Now, I create seasonal collections and teach both of these heritage crafts as workshops across the UK. While also providing services in the form of
private workshops, commissions, demonstrations, talks and team building.
As someone who is neurodivergent, I have an innate understanding of the accommodations available to help create an inclusive environment. Working with natural materials and hand tools often provides a slower, sensory and focused way of engaging with learning that many participants find both grounding and rewarding.
My work is shaped by the relationship between woodland, material and making.
Woodland
Much of the material I use comes from coppiced woodland, a system where trees are cut on a cycle to encourage regrowth.
Coppicing produces a wide variety of materials for basketry and other woodland crafts, as well as producing standards for greenwood turning, all the while supporting vibrant woodland habitats, rich in biodiversity.
Several species of butterfly have evolved around the habitat produced by coppicing, relying on our relationship to land for their own survival. The oldest hazel coppice I have found in the UK has been in rotation for over 500 years!
Sourcing materials nationally connects me to a network of landworkers who steward these types of landscapes. By looking after our woodlands we protect valuable ecosystems and ensure they thrive for future generations to enjoy and benefit from.
Material
Green wood behaves differently to dried timber. It splits along its natural grain, bends with flexibility and carries the memory of how the tree has grown. Learning to read these qualities is central to traditional woodland crafts and green woodworking.
By working with freshly cut material, it becomes possible to shape objects using simple hand tools and techniques that have been practiced for centuries. These methods allow the maker to work efficiently with minimal waste, using the natural structure of the tree to guide the making process.
Hazel and Willow are the heartwoods of my craft and logo. They are represented by adaptations of their Ogham and carved into every bowl.
Making
Working with hand tools and natural materials can also create an environment where learning happens through rhythm, repetition and sensory engagement. For many people this way of working offers a different and often more intuitive route into developing craft skills and confidence.
Each piece of wood begins their second life in the making process. The maker is there from start to finish, transforming raw material into a finished piece. These pieces carry their own stories, and if cared for, can become heritage items in their own right - lasting for generations to come.
Rejuvenating these heritage crafts by blending traditional techniques with modern uses has been a path forged by many. Informed by experience, experimentation and play.
My workshops offer a space for acceptance and understanding, where individuals can explore traditional crafts in a supportive, inclusive community - celebrating creativity and diversity every step of the way.
There are as many ways of doing these crafts as there are people doing them.
My Ethos
I believe when we embody acceptance, care and understanding we can foster a more regenerative relationship with the land, ourselves and the people around us.
My work is about empowerment.
As a woman in forestry, I’m passionate about advocating for more diverse gender inclusion by providing worksites with person-first approaches.
Seeing a woman in her early 70s restore over-stood Hazel changed my view of what forestry can be. With the right tools, supportive environments and awareness of different needs, everyone can thrive.
I honour traditional techniques while reinterpreting them for modern needs.
Incorporating small-scale machinery to complement our heritage craft practices can also be an opportunity to care for our bodies and increase accessibility to more makers.
The connection between woodland management, craft production
and human experience is fundamental to my practice.
Stay involved through workshops, future offerings and shared learning. Together, we can preserve ancestral skills, nurture nature and build a more compassionate future.