Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea
Elizabeth Worley to Demonstrate Basketry at Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea

On Saturday, May 3, Elizabeth Worley of Lexington will demonstrate her basketry from 10:30 – 3:30 at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea.

Elizabeth Worley grew up in an army family and she lived in many places before finally moving to Elizabethtown, Kentucky. She went to college to study business and after marrying began working at Fort Knox. When Elizabeth and her mother became interested in basketry, her mother took a class and then taught basketry to Elizabeth. After learning the basics they went on to study books and soon were making up new patterns of their own.

In 1984, when living in St. Louis, Elizabeth heard about a local craft show and invited her mother to come out and sell baskets. At this show, Elizabeth and her mother were trying to get their baskets out of the rain and into their car trunk – when a buyer ran after them calling – “Hey, Kentucky lady – and so, Elizabeth began to call her basketry business, “Handwoven Baskets by That Kentucky Lady.”  Elizabeth began selling her baskets when living in Nebraska, but it was when she visited her parents in Kentucky and inquired about selling her work at Shakertown at Pleasant Hill, that she began making baskets in earnest. Shakertown’s gift shop began buying Elizabeth’s baskets and she credits the professional staff there for helping her to learn many business tips.

Moving back to Kentucky in 1990, Elizabeth juried into the Kentucky Craft Marketing Program and began selling her baskets full-time. She uses walnut hulls to dye her reed to make brown, and uses commercial basket dyes to create other colors such as red, green and blue. She began incorporating old kitchen utensils into her baskets when becoming inspired during a browse in an antique store. She now utilizes numerous antique elements in her baskets with many kitchen utensils becoming handles.

Works by Elizabeth Worley are regularly available at the Kentucky Artisan Center, located just off Interstate 75 at exit 77 (Berea). The Center’s exhibits, shopping, and travel information areas are all open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the café from 8 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Admission is free. The Center currently features works by more than 650 artisans from 90 counties across the Commonwealth. For more information call 859-985-5448 or visit the Center’s web site at www.kentuckyartisancenter.ky.gov  
 
The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea is an agency in the Commerce Cabinet.