Weave Something New
Upcoming workshops
Instructor: Dee Clements
Format: In Person, 3 hours
Date(s): May 23, 2026
Day/Time: Saturday, 11 am to 2 pm
In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore weaving as a painting process by transforming painted paper into a woven surface. Using acrylic paint, students will first create expressive painted sheets that function as both a color palette and a raw material. Once dry, these painted papers will be cut into strips and woven together to create a flat paper “painting,” where color, pattern, and composition emerge through interlacement.
This workshop introduces weaving as both a structural technique and a conceptual tool for image-making. Participants will experiment with color relationships, repetition, and rhythm while learning plain weave and twill weaving structures. The resulting works sit between painting, collage, and textile.
We’ll look at contemporary artists such as Miguel Arzabe, whose vibrant woven painting works explore fragmentation and cultural memory, and Dienke Dekker, who investigates textile structures using unconventional materials such as paper and tape. By weaving painted paper, participants will experience how image and structure interact to create new visual possibilities.
No previous experience is required. This workshop is open to beginners as well as to artists interested in experimenting with materials and processes.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
Understand basic weaving structure
Transform painted surfaces into woven compositions
Explore color interaction, rhythm, and pattern through weaving
Develop an awareness of weaving as both image and structure
Gain familiarity with contemporary artists who integrate weaving into visual art practices
Produce a finished woven paper artwork
Provided materials include:
Watercolor paper
Acrylic paints
Scissors
Tape for securing edges
Participants should bring
Ruler
paint brushes
Optional: Participants may bring additional papers if desired, such as decorative paper, printed paper, a photo, or magazines
Optional: cutting mat if you are using an x-acto knife
Optional: x-acto knife
Any water-based paints you want to work with that are not in the provided list. We recommend gouache, watercolor, or acrylic paints.
ARTWORK IMAGE CREDITS:
Top: Miguel Arzabe, Golden (Yellow), 2024, Woven acrylic on canvas, 20 ×16, via, Johanssen Projects
Bottom: Dienke Dekker, Intersect: paper, gouache, acrylic, acrylic marker, ball pen
Instructor: Dee Clements
Format: 4-day Intensive Workshop
Date(s): June 5, 6, 7, 8, 2026
Day/Time: Saturday + Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm
In this immersive 4-day intensive, we’ll combine a beginning to advanced dive deep into tactility, color, and creative exploration, transforming reed into dynamic sculptural forms. Through guided demonstrations and hands-on experimentation, you’ll learn foundational and experimental 3D weaving techniques to build basketry forms, vessels, and structures that feel both grounded in tradition and uniquely your own.
Color will become part of the process, too! Together, we’ll dye reed in group dye baths to create unexpected patterns, depth, and variation. You’ll leave not only with finished work, but with a deeper understanding of how material and color can speak to one another.
We’ll study both historical and contemporary sculptural basketry to spark ideas about form, tension, and structure. The workshop begins with a focused sample project to introduce skills and build confidence, then opens into the creation of small-scale sculptural pieces, with the option to work with molds and formers or freehand, using a range of bases and construction approaches. You’ll be supported in experimenting, taking risks, and following your own aesthetic instincts.
This workshop centers on 3D weaving as a sculptural language, exploring pattern, architecture, and expressive form. It’s perfect for artists looking to incorporate basketry into their practice, as well as curious beginners ready to discover a new material world. Come with bold ideas, a playful spirit, and a willingness to experiment. Prior experience is helpful but not necessary to attend this class.
Each participant will receive 2.5 lbs of reed to use during class and take home, along with access to shared tools, including scissors, spoke weights, and packing tools. You’ll participate in two communal dye baths and receive a resource booklet filled with techniques, references, and supplier information so you can continue weaving long after the workshop ends.
*All materials will be provided; however, please feel free to bring materials you are excited to work with if you want to.
*Dates: June 5, 6, 7, 8, 2026, 10:00 am - 4 pm each day with a break for lunch.
*Tuition: $720 per student. This tuition covers materials, supplies, and a packet on techniques and history.
Cancellation and Refund Policy:
Please carefully consider your investment and participation in this class. If you cancel 30 or more days before the workshop's start, a full refund minus a $25 processing fee is available. If you cancel fewer than 30 days before the workshop's start, your entire course fee will be forfeited. Please see the FAQ page for more details on our policies.
*This class is limited to 8 participants.
*Artwork image: The Body is a Piece of Land, by Dee Clements 2025, and Mummy Bundle, by Lillian Elliott 1986.
Instructor: Dee Clements
Format: 2-day workshop
Date(s): June 13 + 14, 2026
Day/Time: Saturday & Sunday, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM each day
This workshop builds on foundational basketry skills and focuses on creating sculptural forms with greater structural complexity. Participants will explore advanced weaving techniques while incorporating dyed reed to introduce color and patterns into their work. By using alternative bases, students will learn how to build upon foundational structures by adding sculptural elements. This may include creating new forms from existing ones or breaking the round by exploring 3D weaving in different shapes, forms, and scales. We will also experiment with surface treatments, such as dyeing materials and using weaving techniques to create patterns that enhance or transform a form. Throughout the workshop, we will discover how basketry techniques can manipulate shape, tension, and volume to produce expressive sculptural pieces.
Materials are included, and participants are encouraged to bring additional materials to experiment with, such as yarn, rope, ceramic elements, found baskets, or other materials that excite creativity and play.
This class is designed for people who have basic basketry experience and want to deepen their understanding of form, structure, and sculptural possibilities in woven work.
Learning Outcomes
Learn how to use alternative bases
Learn how to weave using molds and formers
Manipulate form through tension, shaping, and clamps
Pattern play with colored reed through randing, twining, and waling
Explore surface treatments and preservation methods for finished baskets
Develop greater control over form, proportion, and structure
What to bring: A bag/box to transport your work/materials home. And any materials you are excited to experiment with in class. *Please note we work with wet materials, water, dyes, and hands and tools.
Cancellation & Workshop Policies
Please review our FAQ page before registering. By registering, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to our cancellation terms and health guidelines.
*Please note there is a small and friendly dog on the premises.
Image Credits: Sculptural Basket Piece by Victoria Pater,
Instructor: Dee Clements
Format: 2-day Workshop
Date(s): June 27 + 28 2026
Day/Time: Saturday + Sunday, 10 am to 3 pm
What happens when structure and surface merge? In this immersive weekend workshop, participants will explore the intersection of basketry and experimental sculpture by combining 3D weaving techniques with the layering potential of alternative materials like papier mâché, matte medium, and gesso as a layer or skin. Participants will learn techniques for armature building to construct sculptural vessels and abstract forms that embrace containment and/or gesture.
Once the structure is woven, the focus shifts to the surface, where layering, painting, staining, and transforming your woven forms into richly textured, expressive objects takes place. Whether your impulse is to preserve the rawness of the weaving materials or to bury them beneath a skin, this workshop offers a space to investigate form and material language.
This workshop encourages play, experimentation, and personal expression through hybrid craft practices. Participants without prior basket-weaving experience must first complete the Sculptural Baskety class before taking this workshop, as the pacing is more advanced and focused on material exploration.
Techniques Covered:
Both tight and open-form basket weaving (weaving, ribbing, as armatures)
Sculptural form-building with reed (or other alternative materials)
Armature building
Papier-mâché application and layering with gesso and/or matte medium techniques
Surface development using gesso, papier mache, paint, and Sculpting medium
Color washes, dry brushing, and/or sealing techniques
Included Materials:
Reed
paper, wheat paste, and Mod Podge
molding past
gesso
Students should bring:
Paints they want to use
sketchbook and sketch materials
paint brushes
apron for getting messy
any additional personal materials one is excited about, such as rope, wire, twine, etc
Box or Bag to bring materials and work home at the end of the workshop on Sunday.
Please review the FAQ page for cancellation and safety policies.
Art, Friends, Making
Discover joy in making at The Weaving Workshop, Chicago’s artist-run school for basket weaving. Founded by artist and educator Dee Clements, The Weaving Workshop offers hands-on workshops that blend tradition, creativity, and community for all skill levels. Join us to learn, create, and connect.
