Cathie Harper

Yellowknife, N.W.T.

Cathie Harper, Leaves, 2016. Raku pottery base, hand dyed round reed for uprights and weavers and packing weave technique, 36 x 25 x 25 cm. PHOTO: Fran Hurcomb.

Studio: How would you describe your approach to your medium? What made you choose it?

Cathie Harper: My personality makes it difficult to follow a pre-defined pattern.  When I start, I have a general concept of what I want to create and ideas as to materials and weaves to use.  But once started, who knows what the final creation will look like.  I don’t force wild or other materials into precise shapes, I choose to let the material tell me how to go. 

As I planned to be in Yellowknife for two years, I thought the expenses for pottery or stained glass would be prohibitive so I chose willow basketry. Over 25 years later, I have no idea what I have spent on workshops, tools and materials.  I have tried stained glass and pottery since and use pottery in some of my art.

Cathie Harper, Lighting at Midnight, 2016. Hand-built pottery base, hand dyed black and grey round reeds, grey yarn, recycled sari silk, twining, waling and packing weaves, 15 x 30 x 25 cm. PHOTO: Fran Hurcomb.

S: How would you describe yourself, personally and professionally?

CH: I would never have thought I was creative until I took up basketry.  I started making very basic willow baskets, then I started making different shapes and larger ones, but still functional.  My first basketry retreat, I learned how to coil and worked with many different weaves in a sampler basket class.  I was then accepted into an art festival twenty years ago and figured that I needed to take function into art and I have not stopped.  

I have taken many basketry workshops, but the techniques I use the most are self taught, or I take that technique that I learned and adapt it to meet my own creativity.

I ran into an instructor last year whose technique I love, have adapted and used it in my own way.  I showed her some pictures of what I was creating and she dashed into her class and said ‘Look where you can go’.

Cathie Harper, Aurora On the Rocks, 2014. Hand-built raku pottery base, vine rattan uprights, natural flat oval reed weavers, continuous over and under weave, 43 x 46 x 31 cm.  PHOTO:  Fran Hurcomb.

S: What inspires you?

CH: I started using wild willow that I collected and made into baskets. I still make baskets, but my willow now often gets used in non-traditional art pieces.  Willow alone has been too limiting and I have evolved with my own designs and many different techniques and materials.  I create with traditional materials (birchbark) using non-traditional techniques (embroidery) and traditional techniques (coiling) using non-traditional materials (speaker wire).  I haven’t found anything that I can’t weave with.

Cathie Harper, Woman Interrupted, 2005. Raku pottery base, wild willow and twining weave, 76 x 46 x 36 cm. PHOTO: Fran Hurcomb.

S: What do you see as your contribution to the field of your craft?

CH: I take ideas and materials from anywhere.  Many basket makers have chosen to limit themselves to a single technique and material and focus on excellence in that area.  Because I work with so many different techniques, materials and my own designs, I often cross boundaries from one to another or merge several together to create something unique.  My art shows what you can do if you let your mind go free and keep on experimenting.

Cathie Harper, Portrait of Two Ladies, 2022. Heavy duty metal zippers, craft wire, waxed linen, and coiling technique, 43 x 35 x 20 cm. PHOTO: Fran Hurcomb.

S: What wisdom do you want to impart to younger makers?

CH: Learn from the best.  Learn the correct techniques and rules from the start.  Once you know how to do it correctly, you can start breaking the rules.  Be inquisitive and don’t be afraid to try anything, who knows where it will lead you.  It is never too late to start.  I made my first baskets in my forties, started making art pieces in my fifties and started working towards group and solo exhibits in my sixties.

Cathie Harper
f: @cathie.harper.52

This article was published in the Fall/Winter 2023-2024 issue of Studio Magazine.