Lynn's artwork can be viewed at

The Village Gallery, Oriental, NC

Lynn is a North Carolina native who creates unique pine needle baskets from needles of the long leaf pine. Lynn and her husband collect the needles locally from a “special tree.” She first learned how to weave baskets back in the late 1970’s from her mother. Learning was a bit of a challenge since Lynn is left-handed and her mother is right-handed. She persevered, but unfortunately after a few months of hard work, she had only a 3 inch circle to show for her efforts. She remained interested and kept the 3 inch circle, but that was the end of pine needle baskets for a while.

Fast forward to 2000, when Lynn and her husband moved to Oriental to a slower pace of life and to be closer to three of their grandchildren. On one of her mother’s visits, Lynn pulled out the 3 inch circle from years before and asked her mother again to remind her how to proceed. Her mother was a bit surprised to see that piece of work, but agreed to help. Lynn says, “I credit her patience and knowledge with helping me complete my first basket. Now it’s a way of life, and it doesn’t feel right to not be working on a basket.” The 3 inch circle remains as an unfinished souvenir on display in a curio cabinet in her home.