Samantha Dennis Shetland Straw Baskets

Da Roost baskets are made of rope gathered on the beach and Shetland oats grown on a croft just five miles away. Like many Shetlanders lives, these baskets intertwine land and sea, crofting and fishing.

In Sam’s own words: ‘Da Roost, located in the waters off the southern tip of Sumburgh Head is where the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea clash. This tidal race creates the perfect storm to wash ashore flotsam and jetsam along the coastline in front of my studio. The bay, translated as ‘odds and ends’ in Shetland dialect, has collected rubbish for generations. Unfortunately, these days I see more plastics and fishing gear than I do wood. I pick up approximately 700 plastic bottles every year along a short stretch of beach. That’s one bottle on every tide.’