Kari Lonning

Contemporary Rattan Baskets: What You Didn’t Learn About in Summer Camp

Course Description
Participants will create a small, introductory rattan basket with a crossed 10-spoke base to familiarize themselves with basic weaving techniques. The second basket, the major project of the week, will start with a decorative grid which can be turned into a round or square base. Weaving techniques will include patterns using four and five element twining or waling to create spirals, verticals, and what Kari calls her "hairy" technique, which began as a way to weave a bird's nest. This involves inserting dozens, often hundreds, of short pieces into the wall of the basket as it is being woven.

Artist's Biography
Kari Lonning has been a full-time contemporary basketmaker since 1975. She is best known for her double-walled constructions and a complex weaving process she refers to as her “hairy technique.” She works extensively with graphic patterns, using both bold and subtle color schemes. She dyes the natural rattan reed with commercial, colorfast textile dyes for depth of color and longevity. Her interest in patterns and complex weaving techniques began in college where she minored in textiles, while many of her vessel forms reflect her college major—ceramics. Basketry became the natural union of the two.

Kari designs and weaves all the baskets herself. Her work is in numerous public and private collections including the White House Craft Collection, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, the Mint Museum in Charlotte, and the US Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. Kari is the author of The Art of Basketry, a comprehensive resource on design and construction techniques for traditional and non-traditional fiber vessels and sculpture.

When Kari isn’t working on baskets, she and her Old English Sheepdog puppy, Emma, are often in the garden or greenhouse. Plants, with all of their color variations and textures, are a major source of inspiration, as is her fascination with building structures and her respect for architectural space.