Books and baskets

 

These past two days have been all about books and baskets (and bargains). 

Yesterday AND today I went to the Friends of Oro Valley Library's spring book sale where I scooped up all of these books plus a CD for $30! That's six big cookbooks, three Southwest nature books, a Southwest travel book, a humor book for women, three cozy mysteries by one of my favorite cozy authors (Ellie Alexander) and a CD of music from the Grand Canyon.

Then today I attended a free lecture on native Southwest baskets by American Indian crafts expert Terry DeWald. He explained the history and artistry of antique and contemporary baskets from our region and had a big selection for sale. I couldn't afford the baskets, but his talk was really interesting.

The large vessel above is a wine bowl, which holds wine made from saguaro cactus fruit. The basket is passed around for shared drinking in spiritual ceremonies.

The next basket that he's holding is a Man In the Maze pattern and was made by a Pima Indian. The design represents a person's journey through life, with the twists and turns representing choices that make the person more understanding and stronger.

He was very knowledgeable about the plants used to weave the baskets, including willow, yucca, cat's claw, bear grass and many more. I didn't take notes, but he also explained how the plants are prepared and what the designs mean. He's known many of the basket makers since the 1970s when he began collecting. It was fascinating, and the skills shown were amazing. Such intricate details and such artistry.

Unfortunately, he said traditional basket making is a dying art because the artists can only make about $1 an hour for their labor while they could make many times that much flipping burgers at a fast-food chain.

This two-foot tall "olla" (water or food carrier), is an early Apache basket from 1890-1900. It was priced at $12,000, a bit out of my reach but a joy to look at.

The talk was on the patio at the National Parks Store in Oro Valley on a beautiful day. I snapped this picture of the spring plants in front of the parking lot. 

Have a colorful day