When friends hear for the first time that I create sculpture and baskets from pine needles, their reaction is always the same.....

Really? You do what?

Yes, Creating sculptural pieces and baskets from pine needles is my passion.

I live in an area of southern Oregon called the Klamath Basin. It's a high desert region, where sage brush plateaus and ponderosa pine forests dominate.

I take many walks in the forests and one day as I listened to the crunch of pine needles underfoot I was inspired to pick up a handful and try my hand at weaving a basket. I had seen a book in a gift shop several years back and wondered if it was something I could do.

That was more than 10 years ago and I was immediately hooked and it's become a real passion.

The technique of creating baskets and sculpture from pine needles is called coiled basketry. Pine needles are coiled and held together with thread or raffia in a circular motion.

Coiled basketry is a very ancient technique going back hundreds and even thousands of years.

From this simple technique I use a variety of colored thread, beadwork, stones and other materials from nature to create unique and unusual works of art.

Most coiled baskets and work are circular because coils naturally form a circular shape. I prefer manipulating the needles to create asymmetrical and triangular shapes. I believe these shapes are more unique and pleasing to the eye.

Each piece takes many hours to create. Even though they are time consuming, I believe they are worth the effort.

I now have a facebook page. My page will be a collection of baskets and sculpture and I hope to share some of my inspiration and more detail about the process of weaving with pine needles. Hopefully it will inspire others to pick up some pine needles or grass and be inspired to create.