Tubecoiled Screwpine Video Demo

Our Artist and Demonstrator

Daphne Stephens of Choiseul, St. Lucia is a traditional crafter who makes tubecoiled “Screwpine” basketry. This is one of the traditional forms of basketry found in St. Lucia and Daphne is considered to be the island’s most accomplished practitioner of this craft – her baskets are tightly woven with fine detailing and last decades in full use without showing much wear and tear at all. In fact, Daphne is the only basket-maker on the island who does this technique to such a level of tightness, detail and quality. She has always expressed a keen interest in teaching but the youth unfortunately don’t see being a basket-maker as a future for them.

A Wish
Nonetheless, one of the things I would like to achieve someday, is to find a small group of interested persons – youth and others - and have Daphne be part of series of training workshops where she would teach and pass on her skills and participate also in learning ways to introduce contemporary designs, decorative techniques and adaptations to other décor and fashion uses to broaden the customer base. I’m hoping I’ll find an interested funding agency and we’ll manage to turn what may soon otherwise only be an historical tradition, into a new vibrant living tradition.

About the Craft
The screwpine, pandanus tectoris, locally known as “palama” is often grown as a wind-shield as its dense growth defies even hurricane force winds. The name screwpine comes from the way the central stem grows in a spiral or screw. The leaves naturally dry on the plant and turn a lovely soft brown but most weavers also pick green leaves, boil and bake them to achieve a cream colour as well. Other preparation includes removal of the central rib and the outer edges of the leaves which are lined with prickles: This is done with a needle or similar object, run along the leaf, which separates easily along its grain. Pricked fingers are not uncommon! Leaves are then split again into appropriate sizes for the weaving and theAlthough St. Lucian traditional crafters don’t dye these fibres, you can dye them with RIT dyes, which are strong enough to get past the waxy surface of the leaves. You can also apply acrylic paints or wood stains on a completed piece to achieve a variety of decorative effects.

The Video Clips
These clips show a few of the techniques she kindly demonstrated to my Art students during a tour we made around just some of St. Lucia’s arts and crafts interests. The clips don’t show a whole basket being made but we have a beginning clip, adding in new weaving strands and finishing off. Perhaps I will be able to film her making a small items from start to finish or at least showing a few more techniques to share here, but for now, I hope you enjoy these.



Starting Off



Adding in a New Strand


Finishing Off

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Dolphin Tutorial

Hand Sculpting with your Fingers and a Toothpick

By Finola Prescott 

Skill Level: Beginner
 

Living in the Caribbean small islands means you often can't get quite what you want to work with, so I try to come up with ways to do things with alternate tools and materials. In this tutorial we'll make a clay dolphin (about 2"x1.5") using just our fingers and a toothpick.

This method works well for a any kind of clay – polymer, ceramic, air dry or cold porcelain; for this tutorial, we use cold porcelain which I like for various things; it's ability to dry very hard without needing any cooking, it takes colour easily mixed into the clay as well as painted on after and that it dries rock hard even when very thin. But it's not without some limitations; what I've found are first that it takes detail reluctantly – you often have to go back as it is drying and redefine details as it tends to bounce back from where you put it into a nice rounded pillow-like shape; that's all well and good if you want a pillow, if you want a knife edge, persist at persuading it and it will eventually agree to do what you want. Secondly, although I'm always fascinated at how hard this air-dries, it does need some kind of varnish applied if it is to be used as jewelry, keyrings or anything that will get damp and last that it doesn't marble colours like some other clays.

I think once you have tried this, you'll realize how much can be done with very little in the way of tools, and there's some inspiration for more finger and toothpick adventures at the end.

 

Here's the dolphin with some other finger and toothpick creations I've made.

The Mermaid, Fish in the Sea and the Little Fan Fish are polymer clay, 

the Flower necklace and Vessel are cold porcelain

All rights reserved. This tutorial is free for personal use, 

it may not be used or reproduced for any commercial purposes or altered without seeking and receiving prior permission from the author.

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