Southern baskets are created from every kind of natural material imaginable: cornshucks, straw, grasses, branches, stalks, cane, bark, vines, pine needles, hickory, ash, willow and oak. Using native Mississippi materials such as pine needles, gourds, corn shucks, black walnuts and chinaberries, master basketmaker Bessie Johnson blends her rich cultural heritage with personal artistic vision to produce extraordinary baskets.

“Over the past 30 years, I have learned to blend a rich cultural heritage and contemporary artistic vision to create my own unique art form using pine needles, gourds, corn shucks and other natural materials.”

“I use longleaf pine needles which grow along the southern border of the Gulf states. A special decorating technique used in my pine needle baskets is a wheel or ring made from the cross section of sliced black walnuts. My most beautiful pieces of pine needle work contain one or more wheels of various sizes.”

“My gourd baskets are embellished with pine needles and chinaberries. This decorative technique is applied through pre-worked holes in the gourd wall. Gourd mache, made from the innards of the gourds, is patted inside the gourd bowl baskets to cover holes and stitches.”