Dream Me a Dream

 Last year a dear friend was side swiped by a truck as she walked home from our day at the Fiber House.  This lead to a long recuperation and lots of physical therapy.  I had just started a new pine needle class where we designed a modified dream catcher.  I made this one for my friend to help her with her recurring dreams of waking to see the grill of a truck on top of her.  It seemed to have worked for she is much better today. This dream catcher is begun on an 6 inch ring and with the added Muhly Grass makes the ring about 11 inches.  I added pygmy date palm inflorescence and various other dried seeds.  This model has been great for my beginning students.  It gives them a chance to practice sewing the coils without having to worry about shaping a basket.  The finished project is beautiful and gives the student encouragment to try another!

Seeds of the Shoals

 

The focal point of this piece is a fantastic Solar Crystal, which is a slice of stalagmite (found in caves) This pricey little stone is often used in high end designed necklaces.  In my earlier years of buying materials for my baskets, I really didn't pay too much attention to the price of my stones.  I probably will never recover this one!  I surrounded it with turquoise pine needles and then an outer basket of Muhly Grass.  You can see that the inner basket comes to the outside in three different arcs. The small Chalcedoney beads decorate the spaces.  This piece has won a second place ribbon.

Approximate Size:  12 x 12 x 4 in

Midnight Mystery

 Sometimes life sequences change, and so you change with it.  I haven't been shopping in person for base stones in several years, so I have resorted to Etsy,  What else.  The base stone is called Orthorceras, a very old fossil and quite common.  The uncommon thing is finding the right polished stone in the correct size and shape to fit in a basket.  Like this one.  This is my double basket design having dyed black Florida Long Leaf pine needles around the center with my home grown Muhly Grass coming up on the outer basket.  All coiled with different shades of Irish waxed linen (almost impossible to find int the colors I need these days) .  I have accented the spaces with Howolite beads and Onyx pendants and beads.   It's not that big but stunning!

Approximate  Size: 8 x 8 x 3 inches

PS.  Have more stones so more will be coming!  Just bought a stove to dye needles!

Magma Mounatin

 

I've been watching the videos of erupting volcanoes in Iceland and Hawaii and this agate slice is just a small reminder of those fabulous sights.  Again this is a Long Leaf pine needle basket formed on the inside accented with small beads of Chalcedite.  The outer basket is formed from Muhly Grass that I grow and coil with waxed linen thread accented with Chalcedite pendants.  The natural color linen thread that I prefer to use is from Ireland and I have found that this color seems to be very rare right now.  The price doubled but I bought the last 5 rolls I could find!  Another victum of the Covid affected supply crunch.  Just finished this one today!!

Approximate Size:  9 x 8.5 x 3 inches

White Surf

 I found this agate in my stone drawer and it made me think I was looking though a telescope at the beach surf.  The colors are remarkable and deep in Turquoise.  This is part of my newer design of a basket inside another basket.  The brown Long Leaf pine needles tie the inside together  and coil in and out the spaces around the beautiful Turquoise stone pendants. The outer coils of Florida Muhly Grass that I grow form the outer basket and give a feeling of closure and picture windows of light.  I decided to use a Turquoise waxed linen thread to add the the movement like the ripples of water on the shore.

Approximate Size: 8 x 7.5 x 3 inches

Timeless Treasure

 This Orthorceras center is a long ago fossil set in epoxy.  That allows me to sew directly onto the base.  This design is a nice open dish which can be used for holding your watch or bracelet until the next day.  The brown Long Leaf  pine needles begin the coil, then some dyed black pine needles accent the curve and fade into the Florida Muhly Grass that I grow. Snake Jasper pendants accent the ends.

Approximate size:  9.5 x 7 x 1 inches

Wild Child Gallery Demonstrations 2021-2022

 

Demonstration days at the Wild Child Gallery in Matlacha, FL is always fun.  It's so nice to meet and chat with the visitors from all over the USA and Canada.  Even a few from Europe.  I bring lots of extra baskets to display and sell and show how they are made.  We try to be set up by 10 AM and work until about 4PM.  That's enough enough sewing for one day! Here are the dates for this season barring unforeseen bad weather. 

November 30, 2021

December 9

December 16

January 13, 2022

January 20

February 10

February 17

March 3

March 10

March 31

April 7

April 14

April 21