Christmas in July

 
Even though the holidays are month away I made some early Christmas decorations.  Using cream and colored flat reed I wove a tapered round basket to be inverted as a bell shape. 











I added a jingle bell, ribbon hanger and a bow to complete the the look.  The reed bell is ready to be hung.

Hand Felted Ring on a Gourd

I spent the past week participating in activities at Common Ground on the Hill at McDaniel College.  One class I took was Exploring Wet and Dry Felting using  Navajo-Churro wool.  Instructor Roy Kady is a master craftsman and shepherd from the Navajo Nation reservation and he shared his knowledge of his culture and his craft throughout the class.

The first project was to create a wet felted ring.  Once the ring was dry I attached it to the top of a painted gourd using wax linen cord.  I added beads around the top as well.

First Friday's at Eclecticity

During the month of July my baskets will be featured  in the Wickes Reading Room at Eclecticity along with my friend Leah Spencer's mixed media paintings on wood.  The opening for the month long exhibit is this Friday, July 5th from 5pm until 7pm.  The gallery is located at 13 Johns Street in downtown Westminster.





 Hope to see you on Friday evening. If not, stop by Electicity sometime this month.  Contact Eclecticity  at 240-409-4863 for more details.

 

Blue Green Egg Basket

    

Summer time brings opportunities for trips to the beach and time in the water.        

  I associate the beach with cool color schemes of blue and green, so it was time to weave a summer time beach basket.  This 10" diameter egg basket using blue and green dyed reed does just that.

Happy Mother's Day !

You are never too young or too old to start making baskets.  Continuing last years Mother's Day blog post tradition, I've found a photo from 1989 taken by my dear friend Rebecca.  I am enjoying a summer day making baskets with my son and daughter.

My hair is grayer, my kids are grown, but I'm still making baskets. Love, friendships, and baskets all stand the test of time.  Happy Mother's  Day to all!



10 x 10 Exhibit

I created this 2D woven color study entry for the Carroll County Arts Center's 10th Anniversity 10 x10 exhibit.



 More than 200 works of art, all measuring exactly 10 inches by 10 inches will be on display from April 18th  through June 7th.  Each piece of art will be sold for $100 each.

Large Egg Basket

Once again, I experimented with multi-colored flat reed as I wove this large, 16" in diameter egg basket.  I alternated rows of the colored reed with rows of natural cream reed.  I started with the colored reed  in the God's Eye on each side of the basket  and ended with the cream reed .

It is important to keep both sides of the egg  basket even as you form the two humps that make the distinctive shape of an egg basket.  I continually check the eveness of the sides as I add additonal spokes to the basket as I weave.














The multi-colored reed is from a space dyed flat reed coil made up of periwinkle, hunter green and mauve. One color bleeds into the next on the flat reed giving a variegated color appearance when woven