Hazel is a small, shrubby tree that can be found in woodlands, gardens, and grasslands. It is famous for its fruits hazelnuts that appear in late summer.
Hazel is one of the most useful trees for its bendy stems. Weaving with strips of hazel is a rare craft. This is an ancient art only a few people know about, and even fewer know how to do it. Splitting strips of hazel from a rod, then turning them into ribbons and weaving them into traditional frame baskets is almost lost.
We have a few artisans in Slovenia that are still practicing this craft and Cvetka is one of them. In Slovenia hazel is traditionally used for making baskets and rakes. In this cooperation project, we would be exploring new possibilities. In a nutshell, we would be making hazel lights.
The Hazel tree (Corylus avellana) grows widely throughout much of Europe and is famous for its fruit, hazelnuts, that appear in late summer. But this tree has many other benefits that are less well known and it is one of the most useful trees for its flexible stems used in wickerwork and agricultural fencing. Hazel also has a reputation for being a magical tree, deeply wise, a bringer of insight and flashes of inspiration. Mythology states that a hazel rod protects one from evil spirits. Weaving the mythology into the objects that we place inside our homes might bring some magic charm. By splitting strips of hazel from a rod, then turning them into ribbons and weaving them with traditional Slovenian wicker techniques into our unique hazel lights, we aim to bring seen and unseen qualities into the ambiance of our homes.
