North House is pleased to welcome returning scholar, artisan, and teacher Vladimir Yarish, of Veliky Novgorod, the capitol of Novgorod Province, Russia to teach this tutorial course. After scouring museums and archeological 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 basketmakers and weavers of varied levels for two days of instruction in a wide variety of projects. This year, Vladimir offers five new intermediate/advanced projects: the hen, the bunny, the duck salt cellar, the dog and the cat, as well as an array of other options suitable for beginners and intermediate students alike. 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, materials fee is due to the instructor at the time of class and is based on which projects the student selects. Students may choose to register for one or both days of this course.

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. The spruce roots he digs, 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.

Projects to choose from are listed here