The Villages - May 2019 - 42

{ For The

Love

oF ArT }

P o t t e r a n d P i n e n e e d l e
a r t i s t H e l e n d o H n

Preserving Nature's Bounty
Story by rICA LEWIS | PhotoS by rob WILKErSoN
When a longleaf pine sheds its needles, Helen Dohn
reaps the harvest. Imagination, patient hands and a
pile of sinewy needles are all she needs to stitch something beautiful - a wedding gift, a child's Easter basket
or a keepsake for a loved one.
Basketry is an ancient art, practiced across cultures
and with a range of natural materials, including grass,
vines, animal hair, bamboo, wicker and others. Dohn
got into it in 2012, a year after moving to The Villages.
"I told my husband when we retired I would go
back to pottery," the Village of Mallory
Square resident said. "I had done it in
college and loved it."
She promptly joined the Lakeside Pottery club and began learning basketry too. But when she broke
her wrist playing pickleball, a new art
form emerged.
"While my hand was in a cast, I
kept working on the clay," she said. "I
couldn't use the wheel, so I put plastic
over my arm and started making little
clay bases for my basketry. If I hadn't
been injured, I don't think I would have
combined the two crafts."

MAY 2019

This fusion of clay and pine gives Dohn's work a custom face while allowing her to explore two mediums.
Historically, sliced walnuts or coils have been used as
the centers of baskets for centuries.
From a single sliced shell, a weaver could stitch an
intricate basket by coiling their material around and
around.
While Dohn doesn't start with walnuts, she does
incorporate them and other embellishments - beads,
metal charms and clay leaves - into her
baskets to add whimsy and flair.
"I was a master gardener in New
York, so you'll see a lot of leaves in my
work," Dohn said.
As a licensed social worker in
New York state, Dohn used art therapy and horticultural therapy in
her work.
"But not as much as I would
have liked," she said.
Having the freedom to do so
now is pure bliss.

The Villages - May 2019

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