Lizzie Farey

Lizzie trained in fine art and stained glass before turning to basketry in 1991.  Learning the first steps from her sister-in-law in North Wales, she planted a field of willow cuttings and her passion for working with natural materials began.  Always keen to try new approaches to this traditional craft Lizzie gradually gained a strong reputation for her simple innovative forms, especially the spheres often decorated with catkins or pussy willow.
A cover article in Crafts Magazine in 1997 helped establish Lizzie’s career in Britain and abroad especially in the U.S. where she started selling her work at Browngrotta Arts. This in turn led to numerous awards and offers to show her work in Sotheby’s New York, SOFA Chicago, and the V & A Museum London etc. In 2004 Lizzie won the BBC Homes & Antiques ‘Talent around Britain’ award, voted for by the public and sponsored by John Lewis.
In 2007 Lizzie received the Creative Development Award from the then Scottish Arts Council allowing her to pursue her new interest in ‘willow wall drawings’. In July 2011 Lizzie’s willow light installation ‘Heart’ was put on permanent display in the newly opened National Museum in Edinburgh.  She says of her work:

‘For me, willow has become a medium for an interaction with nature that is deeply personal.  I take my influences from the Galloway countryside where I live and work.  I am surrounded by hills, lochs, larch and heather, the essence of which I try to recapture.  I grow my willow in nearby farmer’s fields and collect ash and other materials from the hedgerows.  My working life is governed by the cycle of nature.

The pieces of work I create often take the form of a simple shape; a ring, a sphere or a cup.  I try to express the complex in as simple a way as possible.  Using willow as a medium for drawing I find a freedom to let my thoughts and emotions fly.’