Collar
JoAnne Russo
Photo by Jeff Baird

Baskets speak a universal language. For the historian, they are a signature of time and place. I grew up coveting the Native American baskets of the Blue Ridge mountains. Basket weaving is the oldest known Native American craft – there are some ancient baskets from the Southwest that have been identified as 8,000 years old.

For the collector, baskets are a contemporary art form of wonderful variety and beauty. I am continuously astounded at artists who provide fresh inspiration with this canvas called a basket.

Recently, JoAnne Russo’s “Collar” basket arrived on the Artful Home website. JoAnne is the master of surface embellishment, adding elements that are not essential for the construction of the basket but that change the appearance of the basket. In this piece, she has decorated the surface with traditional hook and eyes, transforming an ordinary object into a work of art.

I was reminded, once again, that the magic of the talented artist is to be able to reach beyond the physical nature of her basic materials, to create a work that transcends its own ordinariness and becomes something far more profound.

Green & Honey Teapot
Ryan Greenheck

Those of us who are afflicted with the collecting bug know that it’s hard to kick. So hard, in fact, that we see no reason to kick it at all! Gradually, we fill our shelves, rooms, and houses with the stuff of our dreams and passions.

Recently, I read an article by ceramics collector Richard Jacobs in which he talks about his passion: “I do not need to justify my motivation. I know a need from a want. I want pottery because I have an obligation to support human imagination and creativity in a world where human destruction and tragedy often appears to be triumphant. I need pottery because I am daily enhanced and enriched by the presence of pottery.” (Ceramics Monthly, August 2008)

Yes, collecting is an unruly passion. As for myself, I own way too many teapots. My husband will tell you that I don’t need any more teapots. And yet…when I see Ryan Greenheck’s beautiful “Green & Honey Teapot,” I catch my breath and mentally start re-arranging my shelves.

Middlebury Chair Lavender/Green
Mary Lynn O’Shea
Photo by Glenn Moody

Shorter days and cooler nights have a visceral effect on my behavior. I find myself searching my bookshelves for long, thoughtful books that absolutely require a good reading light and a cozy chair. One of Mary Lynn O’Shea’s chairs, for instance.

We project our moods and personalities by the chairs we sit in. In one mood a big, fat chair is just right; in another mood, a rocking chair. Our purposes for sitting are often very different. People sit back and muse; people sit formally waiting for dinner to be served.

It would be great fun to have a room filled with chairs, all slightly different, as this would immediately create an atmosphere of rich experience, moods, and personalities. This sounds like my own group of close women-friends – each one has a very different character deserving of her own, unique chair!