WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

Get ready to learn to work with black ash! Join Stephen Jerome Sr., master basket maker of Gesgapegig First Nation, for an engaging, hands-on journey from raw ash to a beautifully crafted backpack.

Stephen will take you through the traditional process of preparing black ash—pounding, splitting, scraping and grading—and then show you how to transform those prepared splints into a functional backpack. Along the way, discover how to bring your work to life with colour and decorative techniques, including periwinkles.

Stephen’s deep knowledge, generous teaching style and wonderful sense of humour make this much more than a basket-making class. Come ready to work, learn, laugh and discover the remarkable possibilities of black ash.

• SKILL LEVEL: All levels, beginners welcome.

• $950 + hst

Stephen Jerome Sr.

Instructor Bio: Stephen Jerome is a Mi’gmaq artisan from Gesgapegiag First Nation, on the south shore of Québec’s Gaspé Peninsula. For more than forty years he has made black ash rib baskets the ancestral way - and made sure the knowledge doesn’t stop with him.