Pineneedle Baskets:

Sometime in the early 90's I was starved for a creative outlet. Finally having the time to do something. I had always admired baskets and beadwork of all kinds.
Gayna Uransky, a local woman and master basket maker here in northern California gave a class on the coiling technique and I was hooked. The basket we made that day in class was of dried meadow grasses ..nice but not what i was going for. I loved the intricasies of stitching styles that could be combined with pineneedles and the color and texture of the needles themselves.

Luckily for me, I found the perfect book for learning how to use pineneedles in basketry. "basic pine needle basketry" by Judy Mulford is a fully illustrated, spiral bound, step by step bible on the art. I highly recommend it for learning this ancient technique.

Foraging for needles became a favorite pastime...and a good excuse to get off the beaten track. The needles locally were rarely over 6" long and made it very difficult to make large baskets. The raffia which is used as the 'thread' was also hard to find in the small town I lived in. So I found a wonderful source for all things relating to all kinds of basket making...
The Caning Shop
926 Gilman Street
Berklwy, CA 94710
1-800-544-3373           The rest is history!

Peyote Tube Necklaces:

This style of beadwork was developed for use on fan handles and staffs used in Native American Chruch ceremonies. It is a round tube often woven over a cylindrical object. The tube necklaces I make are hollow inside, which gives these necklaces a unique feel. I generally used a number 11o size glass bead, but I have also used 13o charlottes and 14o's on some necklaces. These small beads make for a very intricate design. The smaller the number, the larger the bead.

This medium also allowed me a place to really play with color! Not being a painter, I was looking for a way to create with color and design. The designs in the necklaces were sometimes inspired by traditional native pieces or simply created on the fly. The peyote tube style is a one-bead-at-a-time type of weaving, it takes a long time, and you must plan your designs on an every other row pattern, to get a finished design.

There are tons of books that teach this style and also places to buy beads. A couple of my favorite bead stores are:

Garden Of Beadin'
752 Redwood Drive
Garberville, CA 95542
800-322-3588
707-923-9121
fax: 707-923-9160
email: beads@asis.com

and

Out On A Whim
121 E. Cotati Ave.
Cotati, CA 94931
707-664-8343
fax: 707-664-8353
orders only: 1-800-232-3111

Another wonderful source for inspiration is a magazine called
Bead & Button.

I wanted to have a place where these images could be viewed. I no longer make the pineneedle baskets, due to tendenitis, so these may be my final ones. :(
I still make necklaces for myself and whenever someone wants a specially made one.

Still, most of these baskets and necklaces are gone now...so this is really the only way to still appreciate them and the work that went into making them. I hope you enjoy the journey as well....bobbi

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