A Round and "Hairy" Basket for Craft Boston

basket - Chocolate, Playing with the Bright Guys 7.5" x 9.75"

I'm getting reading for the Craft Boston Holiday Show. 190 juried crafts people from around the country in a broad mix of media will be exhibiting their one-of-a-kind and limited edition art works. The show is sponsored by the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston, MA. From their website: Meeting in Boston in the spring of 1897, a small group of architects, educators, craftspeople, and collectors organized the first crafts exhibition to be held in this country … The success of this first exhibition provoked the organization of The Society of Arts and Crafts, it's purpose being "to develop and encourage higher standards in the handicrafts." 

Here's what my work and display looked like at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show a few weeks ago. (A number of these pieces have been sold, but I've been busy and will have new work for the Boston show.)

 The National Basketry Organization's exhibition "All things Considered VII" has opened at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA and will run through February 23, 2014. NBO's president and fellow basketmaker, Lois Russell, will speak at the December 15th reception. From their website: The exhibition highlights tradition and stretches the imagination of the viewer to new insights of basketry in the 21st century.

"High Meadows" a double-walled basket for the Fuller Craft Museum

After almost a year of thinking about, sketching, and weaving mock-ups, I have finished the commission awarded me by the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA. The challenge was to create a basket over and beyond what I had done before, yet exemplify the best of what I am known for.

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The decision was to weave a double-walled construction, using both tapestry and "hairy" techniques to create the design. There were many firsts to this piece. The most significant was that this basket was woven off center so that it would sit at an angle. Also new for this basket was the use of short "hairy" pieces in the inner basket. (Usually, I weave this technique on the entire outer surface of a basket, and not just in small areas.)

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The idea for this basket was inspired by the the linear elements of cultivated fields off-set by the wild outcroppings I saw in a Google map. The current basket has taken the idea of nature's geography one step further, into stylized texture. The chartreuse "field" (in the inner basket) holds the promise of spring growth. I was thinking of wild mustangs, and reindeer left to roam free for the summer. (The Google map was of Montana where I'd read about mustang gatherings and I'd been thinking about walking with reindeer we saw in the mountains in Norway last summer.) Weaving this basket was a way to honor the animal spirit and natural beauty I love.

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By clicking on this link, you will see twenty photographs documenting the basket's progression. I have written detailed captions for each photo explaining the steps. The basket is 12" tall on the high side, 8.5" on the short side and is 19" in diameter. The material is dyed rattan reed with encaustic medium. (and yes, marbles were added at the last minute for weight, interest and sound.)

Photos of the finished basket coming soon!

Tonight, I wove together the inner and outer baskets for the Fuller commission. It's taken me a lot longer than I expected, but I'm really pleased. I still have some work to do before I add the encaustic medium to it, but I wanted to invite anyone reading this to come back (at the end of the week) to see photos of the finished basket.

The museum commission is in the works!

After a few months of sketching out design ideas and weaving small maquettes, I started work on the commission for the Fuller Craft Museum's permanent collection. They want their piece to be a personal statement representing and topping off, the work I've done to date. I'm weaving a sculptural, graphic, double-walled construction which will incorporate my "hairy" technique in the inner basket. The above photos are details of the basket. (I enjoy photographing these almost as much as I love weaving/creating/problem-solving the actual baskets.)

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Double-wall construction baskets are woven in two sections, an outer basket and an inner basket. I have finished most of the weaving/work on the outer basket, though I may rework the colors, or alter their placement as the inner basket design evolves. Working photos of the outer basket are posted here. More photos will follow as I work on the inner basket.

Fireworks over Bergen ~ Happy New Year to All

2009 was a year filled with challenges and a lot of intense learning. I look forward to a bright and creative 2010 filled with magic and mystery for all of us. (The water, color, graphics and smoke in this photo, appealed to me. It was shot by a webcam in Bergen, Norway a few minutes after midnight.)

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I've been thinking about what is important to me, what I want to pursue, and what I want to change. (This blog has been good practice since writing isn't easy for me. I'd rather weave or build something.) I want to do it all. I want to spend more time weaving, playing with color, photographing nature and exploring the riches of social media. For the last few months I've been wrapped up in trying to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can about the internet, but the more I learn, the more there is to know. Since I haven't discovered a way to clone myself, I need to find a balance.

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I've been working on ideas for the Fuller Craft Museum's commission. Now that my broken finger is nearly functional, though a bit crooked, I'm looking forward to starting in on that! I've missed being able to weave. The basket will be a double-walled construction, with a garden color scheme. I will post photos of the piece as I work on it. Please come back to see how it evolves.

Fig Forms for the Fuller

While getting ready for the Westchester Craft Fair, I wove a basket whose inside interested me as much as the outside. The basket was woven using my "hairy" technique where short pieces of rattan are individually bent, then placed behind each spoke as I weave. In the above photo, each time a blue, orange, yellow, natural or chartreuse reed appears on the inside two short ends stick out on the outside. It's a time intensive process, but the blending of hairy pieces on the outside can be subtle and wonderful. Here though, I started thinking about what I could do with the surface of a basket if in effect, the basket were woven inside out, ie. if the hairy pieces pointed to the inside and the smooth surface you see above were on the outside. (For the commission, I have been concerned that an all-over hairy piece might not stand up as well as it should in the long run.)

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In addition to having a less vulnerable outer surface, having all the ends on the inside would give me the ability to weave complex blocks of color without the usual problem of having to secure all the ends. I could either design a basket where the viewer could look into the basket and see all the texture OR ... focus on the complex color changes on the outside. Years ago I wove an open bowl with all the hairy on the inside, but the focus was still on the texture, not on the smooth color changes that occurred on the outside. I'm now interested in the smooth surface, on the outside.

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The "figs" would be closed forms. People wouldn't be able to see inside. The bent hairy pieces would create a pattern on the outside. If these pieces were 3-4 feet, the added weight of all the inside hairy pieces would add to a sense of mass, which could help stablilize the two .... though, I might have to weave something heavy inside the basket ... these are all still just thoughts.

A Field of Baskets, or Baskets as a Garden ...

I'm working on ideas for the Fuller Craft Museum commission. The ideas are coming faster than I can write so I'm going off line to concentrate. I'll be back later today - to tell about the idea on the left and the ones still in my head, but in the meantime maybe this will entice you to return. (The basket on the right shows what the spokes left unwoven looks like, rising up from the top edge of the basket.) The idea on the left may or may not be woven with the "hairy" technique ... Please click here, to read what I posted.

A Free-Standing, Stacked Basket

While talking to a friend about the Fuller Craft Museum Commision, I started doodling. The idea of weaving individual baskets which would be stacked on top of eachother - like stringing beads - came to me. If you can imagine COMPLETELY changing the scale, from beads or desktop-baskets to something approaching people size, the statement becomes more sculptural and less "basket-like." There are technical issues which will need resolving once it gets past a certain size. Whether I make this full size or not, I look forward to weaving a mock-up.

Fuller Craft Museum Update

In April, I wrote about receiving a purchase award from the Fuller Craft Museum, in Brockton, MA. I've started working on designs for them, and have posted a "note" about it. Click here to read about an idea I'm very excited about.