Bead Baskets (Virginia Allison Fine Arts)
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After years of oil painting, the art of wire bending and love of beads led me to develop these bead-wire baskets. Classes in wire bending with Lynne Merchant in the San Diego area culminated in learning how to weave a wire basket. When I had worked to the top of my very first basket, I decided to string on red beads. The color added so much that I was inspired to try stringing colored beads into the whole basket as I was weaving it.
My process of making a basket starts at the center of the bottom with strong wires tied together for spokes. The spokes support the basket walls as I weave up the sides with finer wire until I come to the top edge. To design the top rim artfully, while dealing with the thicker spoke wires, is the final challenge to finish the basket.
I arrange rows of beads one after another for a visual effect. I prefer to make translucent baskets for the pleasure of seeing light filter through the colored beads. The visual richness I can achieve by juxtaposing design elements is exciting and rewarding to me. No two baskets are alike; each basket seems to evolve of its own accord. The mystery of what the finished basket will look like continues to inspire me.
Virginia Allison, MFA
Virginia Allison Fine Arts
(480) 471-7772
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