Artist Statement

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Joyce Shannon, a self taught basket weaver, made her first basket for a high
school project in 1973. The process of construction intrigued her and she
continued making coiled baskets as gifts for friends and family. In a short time she honed her procedures for construction and turned her attention to creating designs.

In 1986 she began entering and winning top awards for coiled baskets in the Deschutes County Fair and the Oregon State Fair. She also received several inquiries from local shops leading her to consider selling her work.

In the early 90's she began selling baskets through galleries in Oregon and California. Along with several regional group and solo shows she has twice been the recipient of an Honorable Mention at the Arts in Oregon Councils "Celebration of the Arts" held at the state capitol building in Salem Or.

Recently she has begun to build a national reputation. This includes a photo cover on the Sept. 1999 issue of "The Crafts Report" magazine, Honorable Mention at the Whitewater Spinners and Weavers Guilds "A Celebration of Creativity" and inclusion of two baskets at the "Craft Nationals 35" held at the Zoller Gallery at Pennsylvania State College.

Design has been her main focus from early on. She began with geometric patterns but quickly became dissatisfied with the repetitive nature of this type of design. Although she could find no examples she felt that more natural forms would be possible. First she developed a technique for pre-drawing designs and then she developed an eye for shapes that would work well in the format.

Most of her current designs are inspired by nature. Nature has long been an important part of her life starting with frequent camping trips as a child. As a teenager she was an avid backpacker and as a young adult she moved to a rural area of Oregon that is abundant with wildlife. She now lives in Central Oregon where she and her husband like to camp and canoe
while observing plants and animals in their natural environments.

Her goal for each basket is to make it tight and sturdy while incorporating as much design detail as possible. To accomplish this she uses raffia 1/4 inch wide rolled to 1/8 inch as the weft. The average number of stitches is between 10 and 12 per inch. For foundation she uses cane #3-#6, 1.5mm to 3mm, thick. Using cane this small as the foundation increases the number of rows per inch allowing for complex designs without compromising the structural integrity.

Joyce was born in 1958 in Hartford, Connecticut. She moved to La Pine, Oregon with her husband and only child in 1979. Among her other interests are quilting, knitting and garment sewing. She has written and illustrated instructions for two basket weaving kits. The begginner kit demonstrates the unique techniques she has developed for making coiled baskets with cane and raffia. The intermediate kit goes in depth into fret and herringbone designs. Future ambitions include writing and publishing more kits as well as an instructional book.

Web page design by Monica L Snook. All images are copyright © 2002 Joyce Shannon