Underwater Basket Weaving

Somehow, this mythological subject has become synonymous with frivolous undergraduate majors. And yet, I have always kind of been interested in weaving baskets, especially under water.

OK I lied about the under water part. I actually am afraid of large bodies of water to some degree - it all comes from that time when I was little and I almost drowned because a big wave hit me, I fell under, and every time I tried to stand up another wave hit me. It was pretty scary. Now I don't go in above my chest. I'm okay in swimming pools and the Dead Sea, but otherwise I stay where I can stand comfortably and out of rough waves. Surfing is Right. Out.

Anyway, so I decided to make some baskets out of copper wire I have lying around. I thought maybe I could use it in one of my ceramics projects where I have to have something hanging off the wall. My first attempt was kind of bad, so I didn't take pictures. Here's my second attempt:





Not so bad. It doesn't look as sturdy as it is. I am pretty confident that if something were inside it, it wouldn't fall out as long as the basket were held at the proper angle (ie: hung from a wall). It's kind of like a cornucopia or a sconce.

Weaving a basket out of wire is very, very difficult. First of all, the poking - oh, the poking. My poor tips of fingers that don't have any sensation anyway due to years of piano lessons were being poked and poked and poked. I used pliers but I was still poked. Second of all, the kitty thought the wires were wiggling as part of some kind of game, so I had a kitty batting at the wires as I tried to weave in and out and in and out. Thirdly, the wires are very stubborn and wouldn't make a nice, tight basket like I had imagined and I ended up with this object that looks like something out of a Tim Burton movie.