Bread
Black ash and waxed linen, 13" x 13" x 4.5"
This bread basket is made from black ash that I purchased at the College of the Atlantic during the 2017 24th Annual Native American Festival & Basketmakers Market. It was an amazing event, all the more so because I came home with this black ash heartwood.
The inspiration for this basket came from a basket that my daughter and I found while walking the dog. In our neighborhood people leave stuff outside marked "FREE." Someone had set out a bunch of FREE stuff in a market-style basket with a similar weaving pattern to what you see here. We picked up the free basket, and this style of weave became a personal obsession for a few weeks.
In the case of this basket, I didn't have any specific rim stock. I studied a couple of Japanese baskets that I have which use thin strips of bamboo as lashing. The wrap on those baskets served as my inspiration for what you see here; and I designed the rim treatment that you see here. The wrapping is time consuming but I believe is a nice contrast to the wider weavers used here.