Cholla Basket
2006-2007
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The work on this basket began in the fall of 2006, when I harvested cat tail leaves from the pond in our front yard. I learned the proper way of harvesting from Donna Sakamoto Crispin, in the Japanese Basketmaking workshop that she taught at Ghost Ranch. When winter finally settled here on the mesa, I scouted the larger area of our property for other possible basketmaking materials. I was quickly drawn to the numerous cholla (pronounced "choi-ya") cacti here, and particularly their skeletons. Upon returning to my studio, I instantly set to work on a basket that was already formed inside my mind--a basket that mimicked the cholla cactus plant, with it's haphazard form and spikey appendages, and its variations of greens and browns. This basket is the result.
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