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BARBARA D. FRANCIS
PENOBSCOT
MAINE, USA
BROWN ASH BASKETMAKER
VISITING ARTIST, 2003
It is not enough to
know technique and
materials, it is to
touch the brown ash
and realize the gift
of possibility within
the tree itself.
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Once the rhythmic pounding begins
to loosen the growth rings (of the chosen
brown ash tree) my imagination starts
seeing baskets. They come to me in my
dreams and often when I am doing chores
unrelated to basketry. I will sketch them and
once I pick up my materials, my hands
know exactly what they are supposed to do.
An extension of myself reaches back into
the time of my ancient ones, and I become
part of the life that has flowed through my
ancestors since their beginning.