"the artist has one function--to affirm and glorify life."
- w. edward brown

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Unseen Interim work

So, I realized that I never posted my Interim art stuff... here are a few works.
It was a fibers class, if you didn't remember, and I actually did a lot, but only photographed a couple. We used a lot of different techniques and media, so it was always something different.

This basket was made by wrapping raffia around a paper core, and then wrapping the layers together... its called coiling... and its super fun but painstakingly slow... but very cool. I then covered the outside with a handmade paper and looped waxed linen around the rim for a lace-like look.... This took about 30 hours in total to make (if not more).


This was an experiment with the looping technique. I took three pieces of bark and drilled holes in them with a dremel and then looped them together. It was interesting, but difficult since the bark was extremely fragile and dry.


This was one of two baskets I made with the plaiting method, familiar to Bosscher children as the method most often used by Mom in her reed basket construction. This one is made of the inner bark of the apple tree that my landlord cut down and left in our yard. I went out, snagged a couple logs and stripped the bark and spent hours prepping the strips for use. For a long time, it smelled really nice, like apples, as it dried. This one is about 4 inches high and has outer bark strips as a decorative rim lashed on with waxed linen. Again super fun and very intense to try this with uneven strips of the bark.

So I hope you enjoy this delayed proof that yes, basket weaving can be a college course and very worthwhile!!
Seriously, I learned more in the month of January in that course than in some other classes I've taken for a semester... then again, Prof. Van Reewyk is amazing and a blast to work with. The class as a whole was really good and I had a lot of fun. A great last Interim.

2 comments:

Gayle and Rob said...

I haven't done any basket weaving in a long time, but I'm inspired now to get the materials down from the garage and do something with them ---How did you get the handmade paper to stick to the outside of the coil basket? mom

MLE said...

I'll never use "underwater basket weaving" as my "silly" paragraph topic again. Nice work.