A Weekend of Baskets

Carroll County Artists Studio Tour

December 7 & 8

10am – 5pm

Come visit me at the 7th annual Carroll County Artists Studio Tour this Saturday and Sunday.  I will be joining Carolyn Seabolt and Toni Javins at Cat Tracks Studio (stop #6) located at 811 Rolling Ridge Road in Westminster. We will be selling fine crafts, paintings, jewelry, photography, fiber arts, baskets and more! I will be demonstrating basket weaving during the day.  The tour is family–friendly and it’s free to visit!  Hope to see you there.

Also on Sunday December 8……

 

Opening Reception at the Galleries at Quiet Waters

Annapolis, MD

2 to 4 pm

 

 My baskets are part of the Form & Fabric V: Artistic Gifts of the Season show at the gallery.  The baskets will be on display for sales through January 5^th, 2014.  For more information visit the Quiet Waters website:  www.fqwp.org

 

Gallery of Gifts

Let the holiday shopping begin! 

My baskets are currently on display for sale at the Carroll County Arts Center in Westminster, MD. 


This is the place to purchase unique holiday gifts made by local artists.    The gallery will be open until December 23rd.   www.CarrollCounyArtsCouncil.org

Weaving Sampler

I took a basket workshop lead by Debbie Hurd, a basket maker from Arkansas. www.basestoweave.com 

I completed a round basket with a wooden base that showcases several weaving techniques.  The basket has bands of triple twining, triple twine arrows, a lacey variation of French randing and a unique rim embellishment.

Black dyed reed offers a strong contrast to the natural cream color of the reed.

"Weaving Your Cares Behind" Weekend

I spent this weekend in Bedford, PA attending the Basketweavers Guild of Bedford County 7th Annual Retreat.  I took 2 classes taught by Dianne Gleixner from Brookville, WI.  www.diannegleixnerbaskets.com    It was a fun weekend of basket making,







The first basket I made was a colorful cathead basket.  The spokes and weavers are space dyed with two shades of rust.  This method of dying the reed give a variegated appearance to the basket.  This basket features 2 bands of triple twining outlining a contrasting band along the top edge.



 

 
The second basket I made featured smoked reed,  a wooden base and a swing handle.  A bottom band of triple twining  and a continuous weave to create a spiral design on the basket sides.  The basket was completed with a decorative round reed overlay.

 

 



Hen Baskets

I wove a series of Hen Baskets varying the size and color combinations to make each distinctive.

 This set uses brown and cream reed. The side opens are 8" in diameter.  One hen basket  is primarily brown with cream highlights, while the other hen basket is the reverse.  It is cream with a band of brown.



 

 

The second set of hen baskets are smaller, with only a 6" diameter opening.  They don't have as wide a pocket.  One is cream only and the second is multicolor with a band of cream reed.

 

 

 

Cat Head Basket

West Virginia basketmaker Gail Hutchinson instructed a class at the 2013 Weaving Odyssey in Gettysburg, PA sharing her expertise with twills and hand shaping. During her class I made a cat head basket that included a three rod wale with a step-up, a 1-2 twill, and hills and valleys of  increasing and decreasing color reed. The rim is finished with waxed linen.













Forming base of cat head










My second basket began with a small cat head base.  The sides were then woven straight up to make a tall thin basket.

Weaving in Gettysburg

I spent the weekend weaving in Gettysburg.  The Central Pennsylvania Basket Weaver's Guild hosted the 2013 Weaving Odyssey featuring workshops taught by gifted weavers and teachers from throughout the United States .  Classes were offered from Thursday evening through Sunday morning.






 The first workshop I took was taught by Marla Helton, a mixed media weaver from Indiana.  Beginning with palm inflorescence as spokes  I wove a tapestry of mixed fibers and textures.  The weaving was attached to a table top frame.  One weaving has a purple color scheme and the second weaving has a blue and yellow color scheme.