Basket Weaving
February 15th, 2007 at 9:55 am (Shopping in Israel)
On one of my many exploratory excursions to see new crafts and meet the artists who are creating unusual artwork, I had the good luck to meet Oster Herzl, a basket weaver.
Originally from Poland, Oster was one of the founders of his kibbutz in the early 1960s. He spent the next 40 years working in various capacities in the kibbutz, all the while developing his talent for basket
weaving. Now that he is retired, he has turned his hobby into a small international business.
The last time we met, he was hurrying to finish orders prior to his trip to France where he was an invited guest exhibitor at a basket weaving fair.
The basket with the pole-like center handle is an Oster original. The piece is woven from one branch of a palm tree, with the handle created from the center stem of the branch. It is sturdy and I have carried a basket of fruits by holding the center handle – kinda cool.
