The League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s annual ornament for 2013 is Woven in Winter, a miniature, woven black ash basket with a white oak handle and rim made by Alice Ogden of Salisbury. The ornament is embellished with a shimmery, sage-colored ribbon on the front, and has a golden thread for hanging on a tree or wreath. Its open weave allows the decorative lights of a Christmas tree to shine through it. Woven in Winter ornaments are sold exclusively by the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen Retail Galleries, including 36 N. Main St. in Concord, the league’s online store at nhcrafts.org and at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair on Aug. 3-11. Each ornament is numbered as one of a limited edition. The ornament comes beautifully gift-boxed and sells for $24.50.
A juried member of the League since 1980, Ogden has been making baskets of all sizes for more than 30 years. “Every year, for the past 16 years, I create a collection of basket ornaments, called From My Tree to Yours,” said Alice. “I am excited to have created this one for the league’s annual ornament program.” Ogden is known for her signature hand-whittled oak rims and handles, and harvests all the natural materials with the help of her husband, Brad, who is a logger.
“I do not use store-bought materials. My husband and I go out in the woods to find the trees (primarily black ash and white oak) and he cuts them down. Then I peel off the splints, and use them to make my baskets,” said Ogden. “I like the control that I have when I make baskets using materials I’ve collected and prepared myself. It’s very spiritual – you take something as rough as a tree and make something beautiful and functional.”
As a girl, Ogden would watch her mother cane chairs for antique dealers and museums.
“In a way, it came naturally to me to make baskets,” said Ogden. “When I turned 18, I was fortunate to be able to buy a one-room schoolhouse, and that became my basket-making studio,” she said.
She then joined the league, and shortly thereafter, received a scholarship from the league to pursue further training for her craft. Since then she has been making and selling her baskets and teaching workshops in her studio and throughout the country. Alice is active in the Arts in Education Program with the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and has taught children’s workshops at the Annual League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair. (She will have a craft booth at the fair this year.)
Some of Alice’s baskets will be on display at the Smithsonian Museum from Oct. 4 through Jan. 12, 2014, in an exhibition called “A Measure of Earth: The Cole-Ware Collection of American Baskets” that presents the role basketry has played in the everyday life of Americans. Her work is also featured in Baskets – A Book for Makers and Collectors and is collected by basket lovers around the world. One collector is renowned sculptor Martin Puryear.
“One of the biggest baskets I ever created was for Martin,” said Ogden. “It was the size of a piece of furniture. He sent me the rims and handles and I had to create a basket to fit. Usually I create the basket first. It took me a year to make – it was truly a unique piece.”
The league’s annual ornament selection, now in its 26th year, is open to all juried league craftspeople. The ornament is selected by the managers of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen Retail Galleries. Major credit cards are accepted for ordering the ornament by telephone from any Retail Gallery.
