Two-Tone Painted Basket

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I love this beautiful two-toned painted white oak basket. One of my Dad's pickers found in and thought I would want to add it to my collection. He was right!

This basket is a nice smallish size, maybe 13” L x 7” W x 13” H (without handle).

It is always hard to describe the relative size of a basket as there really aren't standard sizes to use as a basis. At first I was going to call this a "small basket", but that makes it sound like it is miniature or something you could hold in the palm of your hand. I think it is easier to describe baskets on either end of the size scale. I think most people would understand and picture the correct scale of a particular basket if you called it "miniature" or "big/large". Even though are still relative terms, but at least you know somebody is getting the gist of what you are try to describe. Now "medium" or "small" start getting into a really gray area. In comparison to a basket you would take to market, this basket is small, but in relative to a basket you would go pick blackberries in, this would be large. If you were comparing this to a basket you wanted to hold magazines, then it would be "medium". I honestly don't think I have cleared anything up here with my explanation...

Baskets, baskets and more baskets.

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I need to find a better place to display my Aaron Yakim and Cynthia Taylor white oak ribbed baskets than just stacking them.

Egg Basket with Side Handles, #98-18

15" x 13" x 6"

Cynthia Taylor

Like many baskets this one has had an interesting journey. Cynthia Taylor wove this incredible white oak ribbed basket in 1998, it was the 18th she had made that year (#98-18). The following year it was exhibited in the 1999 West Virginia Juried Exhibition and received a Merit Award. Not long after it was purchased by a collector from Boston, MA. Flash forward to April of 2006, while clicking around ebay I came across an estate sale auction. As soon as I saw the basket I knew it was one of Cynthia's. Fortunately I won the auction and it is one of my prize finds. And finally to complete the odd series of events surrounding this basket, a few months after receiving the basket Cynthia Taylor contacted me out of the blue to say she and Aaron Yakim were going to be in St. Louis visiting family and would I want to meet. Of course I said "yes" and took the basket with me, where to all of our surprise we pieced together the journey of this basket.

Kentucky Egg Basket
13" x 9"
Aaron Yakim

This basket is from West Virginia fiber artist Aaron Yakim. Aaron and his partner Cynthia Taylor work in white oak and give a new twist to traditional Appalachian basket forms. Aaron learned to make white oak baskets in the late 1970's from a fifth generation white oak basketmaker. He is credited with making over 2,000 baskets in the past 20 years. I have hardly made 200 in the past 20!

What I am making

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Make some basket tags this weekend using a custom Archival Distress Vintage Photo ink pad and my MISTI. I found these cute little craft paper tags on my trip to the John C. Campbell Folk School this summer. We stopped for the night in Nashville so we could go to the huge Nashville flea market. Of course now I wish I would have bought more, but isn't that the way it always goes?

My new light setup

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Here's my new light setup. I purchased this continuous light kit over a year ago and am just now finally setting up.

I decided to change out the white umbrellas that came with the kit for a black with reflective lining version. I purchased both the light kits and the black umbrellas on Amazon and while the bulbs seems to be full-spectrum, they aren't very bright at all. The original white umbrellas didn't reflect nearly enough of the already dim light, which necessitated the black/reflective set.

The lights setup to reflect off of the background I made myself and the instructions can be found here.

All Wrapped Up

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Figured out how to make a four-strand braided leather bracelet. Why buy a bracelet for $25 when you can spend $75 on books and supplies?

Actually these weren't that expensive, but of course as any good crafter you can't just buy supplies for one, you have to buy enough to make an army of bracelets. It was cheaper to buy a spool of 50' of leather, but it only took 12 feet to make the triple-wrap, so I have enough left over to make at least 4 more.

As one of my friends said once, "you are going to save yourself right into the poor house."

Throw Back Thursday

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I can’t believe it was already 4 weeks ago that I was packing up my car to head to the John C. Campbell Folk School to teach my ribbed basket class. I also can’t believe all the crap I had crammed into my car.

That little empty spot you see there in the corner? That was eventually filled with a bag of shoes. A friend traveled with me to take a cooking class at the Folk School and I joked that he might have to run along side holding onto the door handle. I was afraid that was going to be true as I carried more and more out to the car. There are a few things that I took with me that I either ended up not needing or shouldn't have even brought to begin with. Even so, I don't think those few things would have made all that much difference in the bigger picture.

2018 JoAnn Kelly Catsos Workshop

Thursday-Sunday, October 18-21, 2018

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Shaker Kittenhead Trio

1" diameter to 4" diameter

Shaped like the larger Shaker cathead baskets, these smaller versions are called kittenheads and feature the same pointed feet or cat ears. The three baskets in this set graduate in size from approximately one inch to four inches in diameter and nest inside each other. Featuring high arched handles, when tied together they create the perfect display.

Cracker Basket

12" long x 5" wide x 2 1/2" deep

This useful basket is a contemporary cousin to the Shaker Fancy Tray we made in our very first workshop with JoAnn. It has darker heartwood stakes and whiter sapwood weavers. The corner stakes are split to allow for the graceful curve of the corners. The cherry rims are single lashed.

Workshop fee for Shaker Kittenhead Trio and Cracker Basket

$540

Class fees includes all materials, handouts and use of mold, weaving stand and tools.

Level: Intermediate/Advanced
These baskets aren't terribly difficult, but the tiny 1" kittenhead will take patience.

Instructor: JoAnn Kelly Catsos

Contact: Tony Stubblefield
if you would like to receive registration information