Dallas County
Basket
Weaving
Betty Bain has always been enthralled with basket weaving.
So, when a neighbor volunteered to teach her, she jumped at the chance and fell
in love with the art form. Although Betty is mostly self-taught, she does
belong to the North Carolina Basket Association where she takes and teaches
classes once a year. Through this association, Betty has met many
fascinating basket weavers from around the world and has learned many different
styles and techniques of weaving.
Using woods such as ash, cane, reed, and white oak, Betty creates
baskets that are as aesthetically pleasing as they are useful. She gives
each basket a name in order to personalize and describe the use of the
object. Betty uses dyes and acrylic paints to enhance her designs and stains
or waxes the finished product.
Betty’s art is also
available at the Rural Heritage Center in Thomaston.