Workshops List
Hand-Tied Brooms
March 20 - 25, 2011
Learn to make a variety of beautiful and functional brooms. Starting with the simple, lowly, yet startlingly versatile whisk broom. You'll move through the styles, learning to make a turkey wing, hawk tail and hearth broom. Finish up the class with cob web brooms and kitchen brooms.
As you tie, you'll learn a little of the fascinating history of the American broom maker and be entertained by your instructor's knowledge and patter. The brooms you create in this class will not only be functional, but they'll also be works of art that utilize color composition and basket weaving (plaiting) techniques.
You will learn to tie, stitch and plait your brooms.
All broomcorn, wire, twine and handle material is provide in the materials fee. You may bring your own sticks for handles if you would like. Weather permitting, we will spend one day in the forest gathering selecting and harvesting broom handles. You can email OFC Broomsquire Shawn Hoefer directly at shawnhoefer @ gmail.com with any questions.
Class fee $300.00 (does not include meals or lodging) – a non-refundable registration fee of $75 is due at the time of registration. The remainder of the class fee ($225.00) includes materials and is payable to the instructor at the beginning of class. Shawn accepts cash/check/credit card.
Minimum number of students - 1
Maximum number of students - 5
Instructor: Shawn Hoefer
Shawn Hoefer has been earning his keep with his hands and his wits for more than 11 years. He has worked as a spinner and weaver and dyer, a woodturner, woodworker and woodcarver, and dabbled in soap making.
He's also an accomplished story teller.
That was before he came to the Ozark Folk Center three years ago.
Since his arrival at the Ozark Folk Center, he's demonstrated and taught spinning, weaving, dying, and woodturning. He's also been known to show up during story-telling as Obadiah T. Fassbinder, the traveling medicine show salesman.
Now, though, he calls the broom shop his home. From there, he makes and sells more than 20 styles of brooms ranging from the simple whisk to the fanciful forked wedding broom. In addition to the demonstration and story-telling, Shawn has taught many the secrets of this venerable and almost forgotten craft.