Dorothy McGuinness is a contemporary basket weaver who lives and works in Everett, Washington. She took her first basketmaking class in 1987 and has studied basket-weaving techniques that have been handed down through the centuries. Dorothy has worked extensively with Jiro Yonezawa, a contemporary Japanese basket maker and teacher. She discovered her medium of choice in 2000, when she took a workshop with Jackie Abrams, who introduced her to watercolor paper as a basket-weaving material. She now works exclusively in diagonal twills and mad weave, creating contemporary sculptural baskets, and enjoys exploring the interplay of weaving, color, and design in her sculptural woven paper pieces.

I love her sense of exploration, which is evident in our conversation:

“Approaching my work as a puzzle drives me to discover

new shapes and weaving innovations.

I often think, “How will it work out if I try this,

or how can I get this shape or pattern combination?

What if I use these colors in this combination in this order? What if…”

McGuinness is the author of The Art of Contemporary Woven Paper Basketry and is also a featured artist in my book, Weaving With Paper.

++++++

You can find out more about Dorothy McGuinness her website.

++++++

Dorothy McGinness’ recommendations:

• Jerry’s Artorama and Dick Blick for watercolor paper and paint
• Golden for researching and purchasing paints
• Dharma Trading for other paints and dyes for paper
• Annetta Kraayeveld offers basketry workshops (using paper and other basketry materials)
• The Elements of Color and The Color Star by Johannes Iiten
• Colorworks, the Crafters Guide to Color by Deb Menz

++++++