Grandmother’s Hands

Inkjet on metallic paper, 10 x 8 in, 125 USD

I took a Miwok-Paiute two-day basketry workshop in Yosemite with Master Storyteller Julia Parker, her daughter Lucy, and granddaughter Ursula. My motivation was two-fold: to learn how to weave a basket (a lost art in my nation), and to hear Julia’s fascinating stories. Julia is shown here working with tule, a large bulrush found in marshy areas of California. She told us, “If you can master tule, you can master anything!” Watching her hands work reminded me of how my grandmother Carmen’s looked when she taught me to crochet; hence the title.