You may or may not know that my husband Nick is a talented artist.  Working in charcoal, a material derived of the trees he draws, Nick is a botanical illustrator. Celebrating the minute detail of natural forms, he produces stunningly observed, intricate drawings. 

He is also a weaver and we often work together on large garden installations.  He was the person who introduced me to the joy of working with tree barks, and after we met we both spent many years teaching ourselves as much as we could in relation to the tree barks we can harvest in the UK. 

He is a man of awesome attention to detail, and using these skills he has produced two downloadable guides to tree barks.  The first, Cedar Bark Craft was published in 2022 and his new book has just been released, Sweetchestnut Bark Craft.  Both books provide a wealth of informative description, to guide you through the process of harvesting bark yourself.  Giving you plenty of background knowledge and context to allow you to confidently take on the harvesting of bark for weaving projects. 

Each book also offers you comprehensive, step by step guides to weaving your own bark baskets.  And to top it all off, they words are accompanied by beautiful ink illustrations by Nick himself.  They really are a treasure trove of information and lovely illustrations, but do find out for yourself and head over to his website www.mcmillenart.co.uk 

Our bark harvesting missions are some of the most treasured days in our seasonal harvesting calendar.  We have friendships with various landowners who let us harvest red cedar and sweet chestnut bark, so we make a date at the right time of spring, pack up the truck with our tools, lunch, and the all-important kettle for coffee and set off to the woods.  The chainsaw will shatter the peace as we start the process, but after the dust has settled, we go about our business quietly.  Scraping, peeling and coiling the strips of bark.   We don’t talk that much, working in companionable silence, taking in the sounds of the forest, making occasional observations about the bark in that particular area, how the weather and geography may affect that particular patch of woods and share the odd joke. 

After we have taken what we need, we tidy up the woods making brash piles with what we can’t use, load up our coils of bark, thank the trees and head back home.   This process always centres us.  Whatever is going on in life and at home we look forward to and take great pleasure from these days harvesting bark together. 

We both hope you enjoy these books, and if you have any questions about bark and its harvesting please do not hesitate to get in touch with either of us.