Pine Needle Basketry by Vicki Phillips
Yellowstone
It's funny how a little thing can trigger something in one's memory bank. When I started this basket, the agate that I used for the center immediately reminded me of my childhood memories of living in West Yellowstone, Montana in the 1960's. My dad worked in road construction and we lived a nomadic life in a 30 foot trailer home traveling with other families moving to wherever the construction sites were. Most of the places that we lived that I remember were in western Montana. The wide open spaces of the wilderness were my playground and I know that is why I still enjoy playing in the dirt to this day (plus my Norwegian farming genes probably have something to do with it, too!) I have fond memories of taking my grandma Esther to Yellowstone National Park and having to roll up the windows in the truck before the bears tried to poke their heads in (I'm glad the practice of feeding the wildlife has stopped in the parks), the beautiful bubbling hot pools with all of their magnificent color and the exciteme
nt of seeing Old Faithful blow her top. I have been fortunate to go back to Yellowstone National Park a handful of times as an adult and even took my children one year. However, the magic of seeing it as a child when it was still the wild west will always remain with me. My baskets are greatly influenced by what I see in nature and this one has a special place in my heart. It has all of the wonderful pine scent and beautiful colors of Yellowstone without the rotten egg sulfur smell of the hot springs!
It's funny how a little thing can trigger something in one's memory bank. When I started this basket, the agate that I used for the center immediately reminded me of my childhood memories of living in West Yellowstone, Montana in the 1960's. My dad worked in road construction and we lived a nomadic life in a 30 foot trailer home traveling with other families moving to wherever the construction sites were. Most of the places that we lived that I remember were in western Montana. The wide open spaces of the wilderness were my playground and I know that is why I still enjoy playing in the dirt to this day (plus my Norwegian farming genes probably have something to do with it, too!) I have fond memories of taking my grandma Esther to Yellowstone National Park and having to roll up the windows in the truck before the bears tried to poke their heads in (I'm glad the practice of feeding the wildlife has stopped in the parks), the beautiful bubbling hot pools with all of their magnificent color and the exciteme
Love reading about your memories of Montana. Haven't heard any Grandma Esther stories in a long time and missed them. Great to see more about your baskets, which are so beautifully designed and executed. It was clear when you, Chris, Rick and I took Dale's class those many years ago, you would end up the patient expert carrying the basket torch forward for our motley crew. We were better at humor than sterling results if memory serves. Your craftsmanship and original designs are amazing. Obviously you took no pointers from your classmates. Good thing!
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