Basket Weaver Puts Nature’s Beauty to Use

Bringing the beauty of the neighboring mountains and canyons into her Beverly Hills home, Helen Schram weaves the hues and textures of native willows, ivy, palms and grasses into baskets of every size and shape. Long needles of Torrey pine combine with feathers from roosters and an Indian rock partridge called a chukar, above left. Palm tree fruit stock, flax, willow and cattail, bound by twined sea grass, form another basket, below left, while a complicated creation is constructed of weed grass and a delicate dried flower that Schram calls “pearly everlasting,” below right. Schram has studied the traditional basket-making skills of the Chumash and Gabrielino Indians. The choice of materials, when they are gathered and how they are processed are part of the knowledge passed down through the generations, Schram said. She shares her own knowledge with others in classes she teaches through the William O. Douglas Outdoor Classroom. Information about the classes is available from the group at (213) 858-3834.