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Irene Bowie of Satsuma holds a handmade biscuit basket she made. Bowie has donated some of her baskets to the St. Monica Catholic Church Ladies Guild’s Christmas in July Holiday Market that will take place Friday and Saturday.
Irene Bowie has been dubbed the “Basket Lady.”
People who don’t know her can use their imaginations and wonder if she earned the name because of the number of baskets she has handmade or the number of baskets that adorn her home in Satsuma.
Both would be right.
“I got my start in basket weaving at a friend’s house in Maine in 1998,” said the 76-year-old, who was living there at the time. “One of my coworkers had us all over to make baskets.”
Bowie found it difficult because she had never done a lot of crafts.
“I was the last one to leave,” Bowie said, smiling. “I took it apart and redid it that night. I bought a book the next day, read it and started going by the book.”
Bowie’s handiwork will be featured in the St. Monica Catholic Church Ladies Guild’s Christmas in July Holiday Market on Friday and Saturday. The sale hours both days are 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the church Parish Hall behind the church, 114 S. Fourth St. in Palatka. Admission is free, and the public is invited.
Rita Smith, president of the Ladies Guild, said Bowie’s baskets are beautiful and show her skills as a craftswoman.
“It’s obvious she takes great care and pride in her work,” she said.
It’s the variety of crafts that people make that draws the public to the event, Smith said.
“I look for gifts for family and friends,” she said. “I also like meeting the people who come to see what is available. It’s a good amount of work that goes into planning the event, but it’s fun. We have great teamwork in our St. Monica Ladies Guild.”
Smith said this is the first year the Ladies Guild has had its Christmas in July Holiday market. For two years before the COVID pandemic, she said, the group had its Holiday Market in the fall.
Other than Bowie’s baskets, handmade crafts for sale at this week’s event will include casserole carriers, cutting boards, canned goods, ornaments and many other items.
“A couple of the husbands have been instrumental to the event by making some of the beautiful wooden items, and one made his delicious Cajun candy relish,” Smith said.
During the Holiday Market, a lunch of soup, a sandwich and salad will be served from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Friday for $10 per person. Baked items will also be available.
Proceeds from the Holiday Market will go toward various women’s and children’s nonprofit programs, including Lee Conlee House, A Women’s Resource Center and St. Gerard House, among other organizations. Proceeds will also support the activities of the Ladies Guild and St. Monica Church.
Coming from Maine, Bowie and her husband of 56 years, Richard, made Putnam County their home in 2006.
“We still stay in Maine during the summer months with our son and his wife, leaving after Labor Day,” she said.
Bowie, who has been a member of the North Carolina Basketmakers Association for 25 years, has fond memories of doing her favorite craft with her mother, who also attended two conventions with her. Bowie’s mother died in October, two weeks before turning 102.
Bowie said she has made all kinds of baskets in various shapes and sizes using materials such as caning, black ash and splint. She estimates her total count of handmade baskets at 300.
“Shaker style is my favorite,” she said, adding that she also likes the Nantucket Lightship. The latter was originally made by sailors on ships in New England in the 1800s, she said.
“Sailors would make their own mold and make these baskets,” she said. “Originally they would hold water because they were woven so tightly.”
Bowie said one of her favorite baskets she’s made is a Shaker spoon holder.
Bowie has taught some family members and friends her craft.
“I love to make baskets that are useful,” she said. “I like utility baskets that are used every day. I also like to give to my family and friends keepsake baskets with candy or flowers in them.”
Bowie noted the baskets are decorative, too, and a lot of people like to display them on shelves. She always feels accomplished when one sells.
“It means a lot to me to know that someone appreciates my baskets,” she said. “I never really intended to sell them. I give them as gifts and donations for raffles.”
The Bowies opened a craft shop in 1996 in a 1975 farmhouse they restored in Riverview, Maine. Irene Bowie taught basket-making classes and the store, which housed 40 crafters, was open for eight years until the couple moved to Florida.
