Keep Your Weavers Wet!
by Amie
Ellen Gniewek
first became interested in basketweaving when in 1988 she went to
craft night at a Ben
Franklin store and had to make a berry basket. "I didn’t
do real well with it, but I bought enough materials and then I started
making these little berry baskets," Ellen says as she sits
at a long table in her home filled with intricate baskets showing,
during my recent interview with her, that she’s left the little
berry basket light years behind. A self-professed expert of round
reed, Ellen is influenced by Native
American art, Japanese
styles, simple
living literature, basket
patterns, and the works of Flo
Hoppe, John
McGuire, and Jim Rutherford. Inspired to make baskets as part
of her interest in survival
crafts, Ellen was a former president of the Fingerlakes
Basketweavers Guild where she has taught members how to make
baskets and has collaborated with others to build on her own skills.
Craftygal: How
would you define basketweaving?
Ellen Gniewek:
Basketweaving is one of the oldest crafts known to exist. To me,
it is the interweaving of materials to make some kind of container
or art object. A lot of basket weavers make things that are very
avant-garde and decorative and contemporary, but it really is a
very ancient craft--one of the few things that you can’t make
by machine. There are no machine-made baskets. Even [baskets] you
see in K-mart, four for a dollar, somebody sat and made them.
CG: Are the
baskets you make part of any history or tradition?
EG: I tend to
make a variety of baskets. I kind of have some eclectic styles that
I’m drawn to. Some [baskets] are based on Japanese styles and
working with patterns and books by Flo
Hoppe. One area that I’m really expert in [is] working
with round reed. I just really enjoy the rhythm of working with
round reed. I’ve done hand-spinning
and [have] work[ed] with spindles.
One of the things I always enjoyed was the rhythm that you could
get into, and [when] working with round reed you are able to replicate
that because you get into a real rhythm with your work; it’s
almost like molding the shape.
I
always think, "what is the purpose of making these things?"
And I always think if it ever came to pass that your skills were needed,
you could take nothing and make something.
CG: Talk about
rhythm, can you describe the process?
EG: You start
out with a base. In the base, you’re creating the beginning
shape of what you want the basket to be. You usually do some kind
of grid if it’s a square or oblong
basket. If it’s [going to be] a round
basket, you make some kind of wheel of spokes--there’s
a couple of different ways of doing that--and once the base is finished…you
weave up the sides. [With] the flat reed baskets, it’s a little
bit different. Most of them are stop and start, but they don’t
have to be. You can do a variety of different techniques. Usually
most of them are done [in an] over and under [pattern], but you
can do a lot of twill
patterns. If you follow a pattern of over-under, you can develop
a weaving [almost like] threads on a loom.
CG: What different
kinds of varieties and styles of baskets have you made?
EG: The varieties
are endless based on the materials that you use. I have one basket
that is made out of pine
needles. I actually [used] a process where the needles are bunched
and each row is stitched together. This is known as more of a coiled
basket, which is a very old form of basketry. Some [baskets]
you use different barks, and one [I have made] is the cedar
bark basket with birch
bark thread. This is done on a mold. Sometimes people use molds
for shaping and other times they use them within the tradition of
the basket itself. A Nantucket
basket is always done on a mold. These baskets were made on
whaling
ships in the 1800s and it’s what a lot of sailors did in
their spare time when they didn’t see any whales or there wasn’t
much to do--they sat on the deck and mold [baskets]. A lot of men
are more drawn to this type of weaving because it really does look
very sturdy and almost like an art piece when you’re done.
Nantucket
Pedestal, Pine Needle Basket, Cedar and Birch Bark Tea Basket
The other [basket]
is called the Shaker
carrier and that is made in the Shaker tradition. That’s
done on a mold also. It [has] riders and years ago, Shakers would
fill baskets and when it was icy outside they’d pull it along
on the snow or ice.
Shaker
Carrier, Blooming
Leaf of Mexico, Oval Gathering Basket
Riders
on Shaker Carrier
[Another basket
I’ve made] is in the Longaberger
style--that’s a big basket company out of Ohio--and they usually
sell through home parties; a lot of people know the Longaberger
name. I took a class with a gentleman named Jim Rutherford. The
[Maple Two Pie Basket] is in that style when you’re actually
nailing the rim on. This is also done on a mold. It comes out perfect
every time. [It’s] is done with maple and I think there is
some cherry and walnut in it. Then, there’s a very famous basketry
artist named John
McGuire who lives in Geneva and usually about once a year I
take a class with him. I’ve done some of my Nantuckets and
some of the Shaker baskets with him. You just learn so much every
time you take a class.
Bargello
Basket, Maple Two Pie Basket (In Longaberger Style)
CG: How long
does it take to make a basket?
EG: Anywhere
from 45 minutes to days. It really depends on the size, design,
and what you want to put in to it. So, some of the baskets that
I’ve worked on have taken several days to do.
CG: What is
the most unusual basket you’ve ever made?
EG: I would
say a little basket that I made that is very randomly woven over
a plastic berry basket that looks wild when it’s done because
it’s just almost like a nest of round reed. That’s pretty
unusual for me. I tend to be pretty traditional. I want [my baskets]
to look like something when [I’m] done. I think the pine needle
baskets are unusual…when you think of basketry you don’t
necessarily always think of coiled baskets.
CG: What’s
your favorite basket that you have made?
EG: An oval
gathering basket. I like it because it has a braid on the bottom
and it was really hard. One of my girlfriends and I figured it out
together. We kind of redesigned the top because we didn’t like
how it was going. This is one of Flo
Hoppe’s patterns. I had the pattern for years and I just
didn’t want to attempt it because it looked too complicated.
Crown
Basket, Angel Basket, Round Reed Cat’s Head
CG: What influences
your creative process?
EG: Native
American art… I always think, "what is the purpose
of making these things?" And I always think if it ever came
to pass that your skills were needed, you could take nothing and
make something.
CG: What is
your key to success?
EG: Having fun
with [basketry] and keeping it in perspective. Recognizing that
if [I] can’t make it a full-time job, trying to make it into
a small-business takes a lot of pleasure out of doing it, for me
anyway. I want to say enjoying it for what it is.
CG: What challenges
do you face?
EG: Fighting
the need for everything to be perfect. I love when things just come
out perfect and it has taken me awhile to appreciate a basket with
a mistake. There’s an old saying that Native Americans always
weave a basket with a mistake in it because, in their mind, they’re
human and they can never be perfect. I tend to be a bit neurotic
about making sure everything is just right, but that’s really
been my biggest challenge, is not making myself nuts if it’s
not just perfect.
CG: Martha Stewart--Devil
or Angel?
EG: I think
Martha Stewart
is really an angel because, in a lot of ways, she’s put pride
in homemaking. Even though people laugh about some of the unrealistic
standards she sets for people, I think, in a lot of ways, she’s
given joy back to people [who] create loveliness in their environment.
Ellen may be
reached for a consultation at doglordgn@aol.com.
Have you made
a basket and wonder what to put in it? See Christy’s Fresh
Pine Centerpiece.
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