Katherine Lewis

Katherine Lewis is a willow basket maker in the Skagit Valley of Washington State, USA. She has a small farm where she and her husband Steve Lospalluto grow much of the willow used in her baskets allowing her to choose the quality, color, and texture of her weaving materials. Although willow is a common basketry material throughout the world, she is one of a few who are actively growing and crafting their own willow baskets in the United States.

She has taken courses in willow basketry from accomplished basketmakers from England, France, Poland, Scotland, Switzerland, Wales and the US. She traveled to the UK in 2004 and 2006 to study with basketmakers and tour the willow growing areas. In 2006 she also went to the Loire Valley in France to learn more about the willow basketmaking traditions there. Katherine headed back to Europe in 2011 to visit several basketry festivals and willow basketmakers in France, Switzerland, Germany, Poland and Czech Republic. In 2015 she represented the USA at the World Willow and Weaving Festival in Nowy Tomyśl, Poland.

From the harvest of the basketry willow to the finished baskets, the work is all done by hand by Katherine and Steve. While the techniques used are traditional, each piece is unique and not bound to any specific tradition. Katherine’s goal is to weave willow baskets that are useful and durable while reflecting the natural beauty of the willows.

In 2011, Katherine was honored to have several of her baskets acquired by the Smithsonian American Art Museum as a result of a generous donation by basket collectors Steve Cole and Martha Ware. Katherine’s work was represented in the Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America exhibit which traveled to nine different venues from 2017-2019. This history of American basketry was also presented in a book by curators Jo Stealey and Kristin Schwain.

Katherine is a member of the National Basketry Organization and the Northwest Designer Craftsmen.