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COILED SWEETGRASS BASKET
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From my youth in Kentucky I have followed the strand of my basketry passion. For the last 34 years I have concentrated on two distinctive styles of basketry.The first being an Appalachian style of weaving the inner bark of the black willow tree into ancestral shapes. When the sap is up in late May I canoe the Kentucky river in search of the perfect tree. Bark is harvested, outer bark is peeled, and the inner bark is set away to cure. From there it is back to my Pennsylvania studio where the actual weaving takes place.These willow bark baskets are soft and pliable with a natural bark color and a joy to create.
The second style is the rye straw coiled baskets which were used and brought over from Europe in the 1700's by German Immigrants. When I moved to Pennsylvania in the early 1980's I wanted to try a style of basket that was traditional to this area. I began to study and make rye straw dough rising baskets,storage hampers, and bee skeps.The rye straw is grown locally and I harvest it by using a hand sickle. With my knife and awl I coil each basket using reed, waxed linen, white oak or hickory bark to bind it together. Recent trips to Arizona have inspired the use of paint on some of the coiled baskets. Thank you for your interest in my craft.
To see more of my work please visit www.headcollection.com
© 2003-2008 traditionalfolkart.com - Committed to continuing the tradition of American handmade folk art, furniture and fine crafts.
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