Native American-style Baskets – Turned on the Lathe

Jim Adkins is the undisputed master of this technique. I know him casually through the Internet...Jim Burr (one of our members) is a pretty good buddy of his. Hopefully he can chime in with more insight about the process. (Or talk Jim Adkins into joining us here and explaining it himself. He's a very nice and humble guy.) ;)
 
Lady from Prescott, AZ does a very credible job herself. Saw her demo. Fascinating. But if course her name is floating out there somewhere....:rolleyes:
 
Yep imo jim Adkins is the master, not to say the lady that Carol knows ain't as good. just that i've seen a bunch of his work and it can't get any better than that. Now like Vaughn said Jim burr has done at least one that i have seen and it was great also, so maybe he'll show a pic here of it and explain how Jim taught him.
 
That would be a lifetime project & then I would screw it up at the very end. Actually, I could never get out of the starting box. Incredible patience, incredible detail, incredible talent! Absolutely incredible!
 
One of the cool things about Jim Adkin's work is that he researches and uses authentic Native American designs. What looks to us like a cool "Southwest" pattern is actually a design from 100+ years ago with ancient symbols and a story behind it. :thumb:
 
Vaughn is right...Jim is the undisputed master of this technique. I had the pleasure of visiting Jim at his home back in March of 2011. I spent the better part of the day with Jim in his shop where he showed me how he makes those amazing pieces. It left an impression on me...so much that I've attempted a dozen or so myself. In fact, I have two in works right now. One of the many nice things about Jim is his willingness to share his knowledge and experience. As he said over at SMC, he has no secrets. I consider myself especially lucky in that I have a Jim Adkins original piece of my own. A swap that took place on another forum paired up the two of us and I couldn't be happier. We talk on the phone every couple of weeks so I'll suggest he join in here.
 
JA or "Other Jim" as I call him just sent me a big chunk of maple for another basket. I did one last year(?) and it is by no means an get-it-out-in-a-weekend project. Mine was a Navajo Wedding Platter; this next one will be 14x3 and more of a Miwok pattern. Miwoks were and still are to an extent, native to the Yosemite area and I live about 90 minutes fromo there. I had the pleasure of meeting the curator of the museum and picked her brain about designs, she and Other Jim are well acquainted!! I may be headed to Arkansas to take the class with Jim...a once in a lifetime privilege! He has sent me several designs and jigs to work up so there is about a years worth of material to catch up on.
I would recommend his tutorial and getting a couple of Dway beading tools...they are essential!!!
I'll post mine this weekend after I get home.
 
Richard I've seen some of your work also, and Jim tought you a little bit. And you took that to new hights and ran with it. Now your work is right up there with his IMO. Folks don't let Richard fool ya his work is top shelf also. Richard can( will) ya show a few of your pieces to this group, they will love them.

This bears repeating. :thumb: Richard ain't no slouch on this stuff. :D
 
Here are a few I have done. First time posting pictures here...hope it works. The first is an Apache pattern, the second is Panamint, third is Pima, the fourth is Pima (I'm pretty sure. All are marked on the back giving credit to the tribe). The fifth one is Apache, and the last is Pima
005.jpg001.jpg009.jpg005.jpgno.2.jpg007.jpg
 
Last edited:
Holy smokes! Those are really fantastic. I just went back and re-read Jim's tutorial and while I get the basic idea the layout to execute on this is .. wow. Very cool.
 
Thanks for the comments... I appreciate it, but my stuff doesn't compare to Jim's work. I keep trying though. Here is a picture of the piece Jim sent me for the swap I mentioned. I'm proud to own it.WTA swap-Madden_edited-1.jpg
 
I dunno, Richard. I think you're giving Jim a good run for his money. ;) Absolutely beautiful work. I especially like the one in your fifth photo. :clap: :bow:
 
Top