Pat Jeffers...artistic basketry and fiber sculptures

Recent News and Representation:Headed to Jackson? Pat has moved her work to Galleries West at 70 S. Glenwood, just half a block from the Wort Hotel. All new works, with new styles and colors are now on display. This is a wonderful, traditional western gallery with paintings, sculpture (including the work of R. Scott Nickell), pottery, western furnishings and handcrafted western furniture. The baskets fit right in!

The other news this spring is that Pat and Jack are in the process of relocating from WY to Montrose, CO, with moving set for June 11. This is an exciting and busy time, but despite that new work will be posted on the website in the next couple of weeks.

August 13-16 and 18-21 Pat will be teaching basket workshops appropriate for all levels of weavers, including beginners, in beautiful Pagosa Springs, CO. If you are interested in either of the the workshops use the Contact page to send Pat an email. The cost for each workshop is $400 and that includes your weaving materials. A variety of projects will be available, but the emphasis will be wall-hangings.

Pat's work can be seen at Galleries West in Jackson, Wyoming, Rogoway's Turquoise Tortoise Gallery in Tubac, AZ, Stowe Craft and Design Gallery in Stowe, VT, and at Tierra Montana Gallery in Livingston, MT .

Artist's Statement

Unlike many artists who discover their vocations during their youth, I became interested in art in mid-life when I began to explore the textural qualities of three-dimensional pieces. The expressive possibilities in contemporary wicker fascinated me: the colors, the suppleness and diversity of the weaving elements, the feel and weight of the piece in my hands, the smoothly flowing shapes.

I began showing my artistic basketry at art shows in major cities in the East and in the Ohio Valley in 1990, which is also the year that I left my position as a university administrator to make my living as a full-time artist. While still living in Virginia I realized that I could go beyond traditional techniques and basket forms to a woven expression of that region’s landscape and heritage.  As an artist, that realization offered exciting possibilities to put my imagination to work.  

Since moving west I have stretched further on that artistic path. Now as I weave I seek to share my passion for the West: the undulating, vast expanse of land, the bold splashes of wildflowers against the muted backdrop of the desert, the solitude and the ever-present sage--twisted, rugged symbol of the struggle for life in the high plains.

One highlight in my career was learning that I was the recipient of the coveted Wyoming Arts Council Visual Arts Fellowship Award for 2002. The judges who selected my work noted not only its fine craftsmanship, but also its internal artistic cohesiveness. They indicated that it was the work of a mature artist with a clearly developed voice, or style. In March 2004, ART TALK magazine featured me in an article as an "Artist Worth Watching".

My pieces are constructed primarily of reed (rattan) because of its strength, long life and flexibility. To achieve the rich colors and blended palette that I use, I hand-dye the reed with Procion dyes. These are fiber dyes that chemically bond with the surface of the reed and provide vibrant, long-lasting, light-fast colors that I can shade to suit my needs. When finished, each piece also receives an ultra violet resistant coating for further protection against fading. In many of my creations I like to employ fabric that I've braided, natural fibers such as sugar palm, coconut or seagrass cordage and some native materials, such as sagebrush, willow, cottonwood or aspen, and antlers.

When you select one of my woven sculptures I am sharing with you my interpretation of an impression of the western landscape that has captured and intrigued me.

2008