Reneé Mezzone

The artistic phase of my life began one day in 1997 when a woman friend gifted me with a basket she had made -- I was hooked on basket weaving before my fingers ever touched a strip of cedar bark or branch of willow! 

Originally from Seattle, I joined the Vi Phillips Northwest Basket Weavers Guild and began to take classes from the many outstanding artists in the Pacific Northwest.  I have attended many basket weaving retreats and conferences, always fitting in as many classes as I could.  After weaving with willow, sea grass, cane, birch bark, telephone wire and so on, I realized my true love was cedar bark.  I learned to strip the cedar bark from the tall trees and to prepare it for weaving.  Working with cedar bark is a spiritual experience –the harvesting of it, the scent of it, the feel of it when it’s wet, the ease of working with it and its rich history with the native tribes.

Since cedar trees require a cool, wet environment and do not grow anywhere near here, I brought several boxes of bark with me when my husband, two cats and I moved to Tucson six years ago (my dream come true!)  Since that time I have taught basket weaving at Tohono Chul Park and at the Sunflower Community Center.  Having retired from 'the phone company' in October '06 where I was a cable splicer, I now have more time to weave my precious baskets.  In addition, I do gourd art, mosaic work and more or less artistically alter whatever "needs" it.