Leon Niehues first learned how to make baskets by reading an Arkansas Cooperative Extension booklet about making white oak baskets. No small feat when you consider that in 2005 Niehues was named as an Arkansas Living Treasure by the Arkansas Department of Heritage, proving that there is a place for both the self-taught artist and the University trained artist.
Several years after quitting his job at a sawmill, he began to alter the traditional forms that had previously defined his work, eventually earning him the distinction of being one of the top twenty eight fiber artists making the “new basket” in the US (2002).
The biggest shift in his work came when Niehues started bolting the split oak splints onto the baskets, rather than tying them with linen thread. The forms are sensual, with an industrial edge.
“Color was introduced by soaking the splints in tubs with a few rusted nails, and later in his career, Niehues began to use ferrous oxide and walnut hulls.” From The Encyclopedia of Arkansas
Read more about the artist, including how he collaborated with his wife and children, here
