Basket by Deryn Carter. Image courtesy of Deryn Carter.

Date and time: Thursday, January 15, 2026. 6:30-8:30pm PT

Location: Online via Zoom (all members will receive a Zoom link via email prior to the meeting)

Cost: Free. No RSVP required

Description: Deryn Carter is a Cordova-based natural fiber artist and forest scientist. She grew up on the northern seaboard of the Atlantic, but has called Alaska her home for much of her adult life.

She was first introduced to basket weaving using rattan reed, a widely available natural store-bought material, and has since developed as a weaver by harvesting and processing other natural materials. She learns as an artist in formal classes, self-guided research, and trial by error. She credits experienced weavers Holly Churchill, Judy Zugish, and Anastasia Mileva for the techniques and materials she has grown close to in her work. She is most infatuated with the blending of materials in baskets, often using upwards of three different species in a single piece. The breadth of textures and colors created by multiple species aside one another is akin to the ecologically significant and complex relationship between species found in our natural surroundings.

Deryn honors and respects the land she resides on, acknowledging it as the ancestral territory of the Eyak people. As a non-Native weaver, she works alongside and in relationship with Native villages and individuals throughout Alaska, while omitting Native-specific designs in her woven works.

Deryn’s presentation and slide show will focus on her weaving journey, process, and how her work as a forest data collection scientist has influenced her weaving practice.

All images below feature basketry by Deryn Carter, and are courtesy of Deryn Carter.