His father was already an excellent basket weaver, employed at a basket production cooperative in Nové Mesto nad Váhom. And although he could see the willows by his side at home every day, they didn’t call to him; he was more drawn to technical disciplines. He began to consider weaving around the year 2000, wanting to supplement his train driver’s salary and make use of the free time his job provided.

At that time, his father was already seriously ill, so he had to seek expertise elsewhere. The older basket weavers in the area were not very willing to share their knowledge, but he eventually found support from his uncle, who had learned basket weaving from his father. Somewhere deep down, he had an innate understanding of basketry himself – when he looked at any basket, he saw the method of its creation. In a short time, he acquired excellent skills and began to think about marketing, how he could distinguish himself from other basket weavers with his production. There were many baskets on the market at that time, so he opted for a more specialized assortment, which his father had also made in the past – wicker furniture. He focused primarily on chairs in his assortment. Initially classical square chairs with straight legs, he later developed his own pattern with curved legs, which proved to be highly successful with customers.

As he himself says, the material he had available at the beginning was also a good school for him. Near the Váh River and in an old neglected osier bed, he collected common osier willow, which, however, does not have the best qualities. So, after acquiring skills and obtaining higher quality varieties of willow (American and Ural), weaving became even more enjoyable for him. So much so that in 2005, he decided to leave his profession as a train driver, which he had been doing since 1977, and devote himself exclusively to basketry. He and his wife combined the craft with running a shop in their home in Nové Mesto nad Váhom, where they sell not only their own products but also handmade pieces by other Slovak authors.

The increasing import of wicker furniture and basketry products from Poland and Asian countries to the Slovak market influenced the development of his further work. He could not compete with them in terms of pricing, so together with his wife, who advises on the artistic design of the products in their production duo, they came up with another production program. He returned to baskets in it, but not traditional ones. His nature and business acumen drive him to come up with new shapes, aiming not to compete on prices with importers. His assortment is dominated by shopping baskets and women’s handbags, but he can also make custom shapes and sizes of baskets with various weaving techniques. He and his wife regularly develop new basket shapes every year to always offer something new to customers.

He initially grew his own material. However, due to the amount of work associated with this activity, he eventually transitioned exclusively to weaving and now buys materials from cultivators. He remains loyal to the two aforementioned willow varieties – American for sturdier weaves and Ural for more delicate weaves. He mostly works with peeled and boiled rattan, using unpeeled only occasionally, usually at the customer’s request. After weaving, he either leaves the product in its natural state or coats it with oil paint, which he then sands down, giving the baskets an interesting patina.

He works systematically every day in his workshop at home, and as he says – if the woven baskets at home don’t accumulate, he knows he can survive on his craft. And although basket weaving is said to be a difficult craft, he loves the feeling of freedom it provides, stemming from working for himself and by himself.

Source: Mikolaj, Tomáš: Masters of the New Millennium [online]. Bratislava: Centre of Folk Art Production, 2020 [cited 2024-05-29]. Available at: https://uluv.sk/kniznica/digitalna-kniznica/

In 2019, he was awarded the title of Master of Folk Art Production for his work.