He comes from the Orlické hory mountains in the northeast of the Czech Republic and perhaps there you can look for his deep connection to nature. From a young age, as he himself says, not even a pair of horses could keep him at home - he spent every free moment with a backpack in the mountains. And similarly today...
He comes from the Orlické hory mountains in the northeast of the Czech Republic and perhaps there you can look for his deep connection to nature. From a young age, as he himself says, not even a pair of horses could keep him at home – he spent every free moment with a backpack in the mountains. And similarly today – he doesn’t drive, he rides a bicycle, and the charm of nature and its materials continues to influence him through craftsmanship and way of life.
Basket weaving interested him precisely because of the material and usefulness of the products that arise thanks to it. He wove his first basket at his cousin’s father-in-law’s in the Czech Republic. Gradually, through making a few baskets a year, he developed into his current relatively intense interest in the craft. Initially, he was inspired by basket weaving literature, particularly the basket weaving Bible, as he calls it – the book by Peter Juriga Basket Weaving: Transformations of Willow Rods. After 2010, he contacted the master of folk art production, Ján Zeman, which pushed him in many directions, especially in the area of nurturing rods.
In his own rod nursery today, on a three-acre plot, he grows ten types of willow – including uralku (which suits him best for weaving), linear, lemon, American, black willow, almond, rubra, endura, white willow, purpurea. He takes care of the nursery as carefully as the rest of his land – he sprays it against pests three times a year and fertilizes the plants for better leaf formation. He prunes the rods at Christmas or during frosts. Perhaps the only threat is the unfenced cooperative field nearby. The cooperative workers have already made it a place to turn the tractor and sprayed it with herbicides, resulting in a third of the crop being burned. However, since Josef Bilka accepts things as they come, as diligently as the willow, these facts remain merely observations.
Despite intensifying his basket weaving activities, he still does not consider himself an expert. The products he now produces year-round are immediately disassembled, even though he does not attend fairs. In addition to baskets, he also makes various types of whips from rods. He uses unpeeled rods for basket weaving, but he would like to build a boiler for boiling them and also use peeled rods for work. He does not dry the rods, they dry on their own after harvesting. He soaks them in a container he made himself before working with them. He also made the dibbers from old screwdrivers himself, and his wife gave him a rod splitter for three and four tines.
Also rare are his twig brooms with handmade handles of deciduous wood. He embarked on their production because he was not satisfied with the brooms sold in stores. He makes the twig part longer so that people can shorten it when it wears out and continue using it.
Throughout the year, he also collects eggshells and decorates them using the waxing technique before Easter. He also wants to try making willow baskets, working with leather, and processing fur. As he says – if something interests him, he continues with it, if not, he leaves it after trying. In the area of working with willow rods, he is attracted to the future production of garden furniture in the style of tables, chairs, or rattan armchairs.
His affinity for nature is evident in the fact that he is a beekeeper and a gardener. And his love for the craft is demonstrated by his annual presentation of willow flutes and whips to children in kindergartens and schools in Šurany and the surrounding area.