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Weaving Magic | Shirley Gibson
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2021/10 – October
A reverence for form is woven into each of Shirley Gibson’s elegant baskets.
Painters look for the perfect vista. Sculptors look for the classic face.
Basket-maker Shirley Gibson searches her surround-scape for the supremely-shaped vessel.
Her search-of-the-day might be a long, elegant vase or a round, bulbous jar. Her eyes will linger on all manner of bottles, urns, jugs, containers until the right one captures her imagination.
She then fits it to a proper oak base, stains it with a homemade black walnut brew, sprays it with polyurethane, anchors ribs or staves to it, and then the weaving begins. Once finished, her well-crafted, functional basket will hold water and flowers, for Shirley weaves around the entire surface, cocooning the bottle or vase for a lifetime of service and beauty.
Shirley retired from the Post Office after 36 years. A facility for numbers and sorting is key to P.O. work. That kind of organized brain lends itself nicely to the repetition of the over-under-over-under-ing that’s essential to sculpting basketry forms.
“I worked at the Post Office with three co-workers who invited me to a basket-making session,” Shirley recollects. “That was October 11, 1999. It hooked me.”
If you can recall the exact date you started an avocation, that speaks volumes.
Shirley makes a variety of basket styles: shopping baskets, laundry baskets, market baskets, wine baskets, and more. She finds basket-weaving wonderful stress-relief and a very satisfying activity.
Visit her and see her wares at the Highlands Marketplace Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings.
In order to be an official “farmer,” she had to sell a food product alongside her baskets. No problem. Her chow-chow relish and pepper jelly sales rival her basket sales on occasion. Either way, baskets or jars-of-yum, Shirley is a woman of excellent taste.
In addition to Saturday’s Highlands Market, you can find Shirley’s work at End of the Road Studio in Walhalla. She sells her work just about as fast as she can crank it out, so arrive early and pick your favorites. You might see her granddaughter sitting beside her in Highlands, perhaps the next gen of creativity and delight.
If you want to order a special basket (choose shape, color, etc.) or food product, plan on 2-3 weeks’ lead time for commissions. Contact Shirley at [email protected] or call her at (864) 903-1685.
by Donna Rhodes
