Navajo Eagle Feathers Basket - Elsie Holiday (#417)
$1,995.00
Artist: Elsie Holiday
18" x 2 1/2" deep
Rounds: 27
Elsie Stone Holiday tells us that feathers keep her in constant contact with the higher powers and help her communicate with the Holy People. She can often be found sitting in front of a small smudge fire, waving a feather through the smoke and sending-up prayers. Elsie is a visionary artist with roots of tradition in her soul. Elsie's basket is inspired by her beloved culture, which is evident in her weave.
About the artist:
Considered one of the best Navajo basket weavers, Elsie Stone Holiday married into the famed Douglas Mesa family of weavers. Weaving baskets has become almost an addiction for her. "When I go two or three days without weaving I get anxious to get started again," she says. She weaves 12 hours a day, 5 days a week. "Sometimes I think, 'How long can this last?'", she wistfully states, but for now she is content with her art, finding immense satisfaction in creating premier quality baskets.
Related legends:
Feathers
Feather: As a common denominator the feather figures importantly in Native American myth, method, and tribal practice. The feather is a metaphor for flight, a messenger to the spirit world. Feathers are used decoratively, as prayer symbols, and as designs of power. Attached to an arrow, the feather becomes the universal emblem of the hunt, of flight, of finding the mark? More about this legend