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By Hand

2007.01.24










A number of years ago I became fascinated with the Shakers and their handwork. A craftsperson at Hancock Shaker Village had permission to use some of the original basket molds to create her own baskets. The Basket Maker invited us to her studio in New Hampshire. After spending several hours with the basket maker and listening to the how behind the baskets—

Beside a stream
you find your black ash tree
Ten foot butt
twelve inches girth
Too wide to touch
fingertips
No knots to blemish
a year’s growth

You pound
with an ax handle
ten days
eight hours a day

The black ash
uncoils
Some rings
plump on winter snow
Some rings
tendrils
joined to last year

With a drawknife
you cut away
the bad
Sort splints
by thickness
A coarse earlywood
satin latewood layer
Two textures
rubbed
back and forth
between your palms

In the barn
you weave
crisscrossing...

The other baskets are from the Southwest and Africa
11 Comments
jpfromoz You've really woven some magic here.. (sorry). Nicely taken and a great story. I particularly like the orange cast on the first 4.
jpfromoz · 2007-01-24: 19:45
mugsycat Very nice work.
mugsycat · 2007-01-24: 20:20
aggiechristine Wonderful poem - JP is right, it's magic. Great series, really like the composition of the first shot.
aggiechristine · 2007-01-24: 20:39
chipotle your words capture the rhythm of weaving. not a metronome rhythm. not that precise. the rhythm of harvest and toolmaking, the rhythm of the craft and not art.

and you know i cannot help but like these shots.
chipotle · 2007-01-24: 20:54
Jannie This is absolutely fabulous. You truly reveal your "photopoet" title with this post. Beautiful, rich, evocative shots with a story & poem to enhance this experience. Stellar!
Jannie · 2007-01-24: 22:47
PARVAZ Nice handwork! In my openion in your shots #9 & #10 are best.
PARVAZ · 2007-01-24: 23:44
openbelarus is it your own collection?
good poem
openbelarus · 2007-01-25: 01:37
photopoet Yes, it's my collection. The flat baskets are , in order, Zimbabwe, Hopi, and Navaho. The first five photos are of a basket of African origins and the last two are the Shaker baskets of the poem.
photopoet · 2007-01-25: 05:53
theartofme These are magnificent.
theartofme · 2007-01-25: 09:09
Venkat India and other Asian cultures do have many bamboo basket 'using & making' traditions...

they are simple n elegant in appeal, yet fine n delicate in feel... they are very handy and earthy too!
Venkat · 2007-01-29: 02:52
rcharris Everybody's already said it! More magic!
rcharris · 2007-02-03: 03:24
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