Before These, There’s Those

Before one of Eric Taylor’s baskets can be created like these (which are still in progress) ….baskets-in-progress-after-molds

there needs to be those, (pictured below) which happen to be molds! Lots of molds. Molds for the handles, the rims and the bases. And all of these molds have to be made in different sizes, depending on the basket design or style.

molds-bases-baskets
Various molds for bases of Eric’s baskets.
molds-mini-cherry-handle-baskets
To the left are the base molds. To the right are a few molds for the Mini and Smalls basket Handles.
molds-cherry-handle-baskets-eric-taylor
These odd shapes form the molds for the larger sized basket handles.
molds-rims-cherry-baskets
And don’t forget the rims. These hanging molds were built by Eric to hold lots of rims at once.
molds-rims-cherry-baskets-texture
After the rims are boiled, Eric lightly pounds ‘pins’ into them around the molds. I took a close-up because I love the texture these ‘pins’ make.

As you can see, there’s a whole lot more to basket making than just coming up with a design and weaving it! And for Eric, there’s more work because he insists on bending his own wood, making his own molds from scratch and boiling material for his handles.

It unquestionably makes me, a non-basketmaker, appreciate the art & craft, and how much work goes into making not only a bunch of baskets, but even just one basket!

comments

2 Replies to “Before These, There’s Those”

  1. And think of all those lucky participants in the design class who will be able to design their own mold/basket! I’d love to have you post their creations.

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