Honey in the Home

Just a local Christmas picture of this Muhly Grass and pine needle basket that I made for a present.  It's coiled ropes are sew with waxed linen thread on a slab of Honeycomb Calcite.  I added some Citrine pendants that look like amber chunks or clear dried honey!  Some smaller calcite beads help adorn the sides.  The contrasting coils of pine needles with the Muhly Grass is a newer style I am working to develop further.

Approximate Size: 9 x 6 x 3 inches

Wild Child Gallery Demonstrations 2019-2020

I have finalized my demonstration dates at the Wild Child Gallery in Matlacha.  (4625 Pine Island Road, Matlacha, Fl 33993) It's a wonderful gallery of 80 local artists with a great patio on the water.  That's me on the dock with 2 other artists.  Check out the website and all the artists are listed for their demo days.  I'll be there with lots of extra baskets that aren't usually in the gallery.
                                          2019      October 24
                                          2020      January 15
                                                        January 30
                                                        February 5    
                                                        February 12
                                                        February 26
                                                        March 12
                                                        April 2
                                                        April 16
                                                        April 22

Classes at the VAC 2019-2020

Classes have been scheduled at the Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda, FL. You can visit their website and sign up for these classes.  This is a small 3-4 in wreath which can be a hanging decoration or used as a pin to wear.  Decorate as you wish.  Class: Saturday, Nov 23.

Classes for this beginner bowl are scheduled for the following dates: 

January 25, 2020

February 29, 2020

March 28, 2020

This is a very popular class and we usually fill the 10 places in the class quickly.  This basket starts on a walnut slice and you choose your thread color.  You then sew the bundled pine needles provided in your kit and with written and verbal directions learn to stitch and shape pine needles into a basket.  Add our own decoration or use seeds provided in the kit.  Sign up at the website Visual Art Center, Punta Gorda, FL:  visualartcenter.org

Visit in Penfield, New York

I was invited to lunch with Harry Fisher, who is a resident of Penfield, New York.  Harry and his wife are snowbird residents of Estero, FL during the winter.  Last year Harry and his pine needle group came to chat and trade basket secrets while I was demonstrating at The Wild Child Gallery.  My sister whom I was visiting lives close by so we all got together in July for lunch at Harry's home. What a nice time we had talking about baskets.  Harry is an accomplished basket maker and teacher and I really appreciated his review of my baskets.  We have different styles and use different techniques so it's fun to do some comparisons!

Magical Mirrror

This is a new style for me.  I have been making smaller "lipstick" mirrors about 6 inches across.  One of my gallery owners, Teresa Vitale of Skaneatles Artisans in Skaneatles, New York, suggested I make some larger ones.  This beveled mirror is about 6 inches diameter and contains Florida Longleaf pine needles and my home grown Muhly Grass.  There are exposed heads of pine needles on the right side and Jasper beads on the left.  Decorations on the top contain: Jasper pendant, Jacaranda pod, 3 kinds of pine cones, star seeds, Arjun, Cotton pods.  This piece hangs flat on the wall.

Approximate Size: 12 X 12 inches

Apple Crisp

 One of our family's greatest loves in the fall is apple crisp, a bubbling apples, spices, and brown sugar topping.  The Upstate area around Syracuse to Rochester is filled with apple orchards.  That's what this agate base looks like to me.  This is a smaller sized basket and wide and shallow displaying the Pink Ocean Jasper beads and pendants.  As usual I used the wonderful Muhly Grass I grow and harvest and bind them all together with waxed linen thread.

Approximate Size: 10 X 8 X 2 inches

Love Your Eyes

This is one of those dreams that needed to be made but I had no idea if it would actually go together.  When weaving something with no directions and only a vision there is always the chance insurmountable problems might arise.  Luckily I didn't run out of beads!  There are 3 different size Feldspar beads in this basket which really accented this "eye" agate.  Eye agates have distinctive round formations and there are plenty of those.  The Long Leaf pine needles form a basket inside and the Muhly Grass that I grow and use form a basket on the outside.  The netting areas, called faggoting, are a lace making technique often used in early pine needle baskets.   This basket can be seen at Von Liebig Art Center in Naples from April 10-29, 2019.
Update: Second place winner in Water Water Everywhere (158 entries) at the Visual Ats Center in Punta Gorda in June 2019.

Approximate Size:  12 X 10 X 4 inches