About Us
  Judy Zugish and Bill Roeder are co-founders of Fishsticks Basketry School, started in 1991 as a field study education resource bringing local, national and international weavers together.These creative learning workshops take place in Judy's celebrated garden. See their individual stories below.  
      Judy Zugish began experimenting with garden fibers in 1978. This soon led to an obsession for basketmaking and many years of pursuing technique with notable traditional weavers. Today, her contemporary works using gathered natural materials are exhibited widely. She teaches her signature style both at home and abroad.
Studying basketry on trips to Japan, England, Germany, Thailand, Laos, and Australia has deepened a profound respect for the timeless content in basketry.
The recently published 500 Baskets (Lark Books) includes one of her willow bark pieces and her fiber arts garden is featured in Landscaping with Herbs.
Judy comments "My work is primarily about exploring the shapes and layers of materials. Using a wide mix of barks, vines and natural gatherings, I like to peel and extract their elements--to find and expose the character within."
      Bill Roeder's first introduction to basketry in 1989 - workshops with top teachers in willow and bamboo - set the tone for his signature style immediately. Skillful craftsmanship with materials processing, and refined vessel forms, using hand-skeined willow, has become the focus of his studio work.
Working with a bamboo master for many years led him to adapt his bamboo tools to the willow skeining process. He began to weave with skeined willow, and in 2003 had a chance to study in Germany with the retired director, Herr Schneider, of the German Basketry School in Lichtenfels. This exposure to the traditional weaving was repeated again in 2005 and 2007. Bill has also studied in England and Japan.
Bill comments "I particularly enjoy that I am involved in every aspect of this basketry - raising, harvesting, peeling and final preparation of the materials and making baskets with classical German technique."