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the oral histories of mountain women.
“When we read about the Mountain Neighbors we all went, ‘Wow! That’s what we’re doing!’ ” said Janet Kerig. “We all felt it was important to continue.”
The functional basketry that Janet, Judy, Jeanne and Cathy create is traditional Appalachian frame basketry, a style originated in the British Isles and brought to America by the Appalachian settlers. Judy and Jeanne also extend this traditional form to include “Sculptural baskets,” free-form baskets often designed around an intricately shaped vine or piece of wood.
“This type of basket has escaped the professional basket weaver because it defies calculated measurements,” says Janet. “It is set up by eye, and each basket is unique.”
“It seems to be coming up from the ground.”
The vines and branches used in forming the frame of a basket or sculpture create the unique character and spirit of each work. The Mountain Neighbors gather their primary supplies— grapevines, honeysuckle and weeping willow—from the woods and brush surrounding their homes. Also harvested in Rappahannock are many of the fruits, barks, herbs, roots and berries used as natural dyes for the reeds that are woven onto the frame.
Originally a fiber artist, Janet Kerig had gradually shifted away from macrame and had begun creating orcarinas — a prehistoric “flute vessel” — until her move to Rappahannock four years ago, when she returned to natu
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