A basket, naturally.

Here is a picture of my basket made from nature. (Two angles). I picked a base twig with a cool, natural loop in it, thinking I could hang this basket from that end. Eventually, when I put it in my writing room I’ll do just that, but for picture sake, it is resting now on a sheet. I was sort of annoyed that Mark took the picture before I had a chance to “clean up” the basket. That is when you tuck in and tie off little ends of material in the weave. You wait for the project to dry a bit before doing this step. So if any basket connoisseurs are out there thinking I am a sloppy basket maker – well, it is only because you are peeking before I had a chance to tidy up. If you look carefully, in this basket you’ll see sea grass, corn husks, palm tree fluorescents, and big dried flower leaves (the things that look like ribbon.) The end product is very stiff and solid, as dried material from nature gets in time. Anyway, it may not be perfect, but you can be sure no one else in the world has one since it is free form and original. I think originality counts for something. I had plans to give this one away to a teacher of mine who has a deep love of nature, but now I’m thinking I could do better.. My firsts always are a learning thing.  Maybe next time, I’ll stick with items I find on my own land – blackberry vines, string from around the horses hay, etc. That would make the making of it more fun, and it would come with a secret story. I like a little hidden history in my gifts. Even if I am the only one who knows what makes it uniquely mine.