It started with a pine needle basket in June of 1994.
Pam has since traveled to Thailand with the Royalwood tour and has made 11 trips
to Alaska since 1998, to learn Pine Needle Basketry from Jeannie McFarland and Native Haida weaving with Delores Churchill.
She also goes to harvest and prepare her own western red and Alaskan yellow cedar barks and Sitka spruce root.
She loves everything about weaving, from the
gathering and preparation of materials to creating beautiful, mostly functional vessels. The connection of weaving across
the cultures continues to amaze and inspire her. Sharing her knowledge and continuing to learn from other
weavers brings her great joy.
Pam has earned many awards, among them; the AMB Best Coiled for General Membership in 2003. In 2004 she won the Teachers
awards for both Coiled and Naturals, for Coiled in 2005, for both Coiled and Art Piece in 2006, she won the AMB best coiled
Teacher in 2009 and, most recently, the AMB Viewer’s Choice Award in 2010
In 2001 she donated 3 weeks and over 200 hours of time to weave a family of willow Tepees for the Ronald
McDonald house, which are still used by the kids today.
Pam teaches around the country at conventions in Texas, North Carolina, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Alaska, Michigan,
Georgia, Minnesota, Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio and Wisconsin, to name a few. She also teaches in her private
studio in Waterford when she is not on the road.
Pam completed 3 baskets for the Hoard Museum of Fort Atkinson which are on permanent display in their Mystery of the
Mounds Exhibit, opened April 2009.
Pam
traveled to Dharmashala, India for 2 ½ weeks in November of 2010 to teach the local women pine needle basketry so that
they may have an industry and make use of their long leaf pine needles.