Billy Ray Sims ~~ Basketmaker

Gizzard Basket

12″ x 12″ x 10 1/2″

Hand-split white oak and reed; milk paint, varnish

It’s good to break out of strict traditions sometimes, and this basket is about as Billy Ray-goes-wild as it gets. The handle, hoop, wrap and initial woven splits are white oak. The ribs and bulk of weaving are reed. A gift for a friend who needed a basket in her collection that sits way up high on a shelf and says, “Come on up and see me sometime.”

White Oak Market Basket

6 1/2″ x 10″ x 7 1/2″

I’ve enjoyed the privilege of working before with Leona Waddell, a wonderful master basketmaker in Cecilia, KY, but this one was something special. It’s a small market basket, similar to larger versions Leona made some 50 years ago. Most of the white oak for it came from my property, but Leona pulled a few heartwood splits from her stash to add contrast to the weaving, and the result is what she judged to be “a cute little basket.”

I split out the uprights and whittled the handle before we started. Then we worked for the better part of two days to weave the basket.

As always, I learned more of the finer points of basketry from Leona. Mostly, we just enjoyed being together to catch up on what life has woven of us since we last visited.

Best of all, Leona sent me home with a tin full of homemade fudge. On the long drive back to Alabama, I savored the treats and thought about how deeply I appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with such a great artisan.

10″ x 10″ x 48″

Recently completed white oak fish trap that was a boatload of fun to make. It’s modeled on a trap made by old-time South Carolina basket weaver Elbert Brown that is part of the McKissick Museum collection.

Thanks to the great staff at the McKissick in Columbia, SC for letting me closely study their assortment of fish traps.

(Click on any photo to enlarge image.)

This site features the work of basket maker Billy Ray Sims, and offers baskets for sale, stories of great craftspeople, and insight for those interested in this endangered craft.

If you don’t see a style of white oak basket (the focus of his current work) that you covet, Billy will be happy to create a one-of-a-kind basket to your specifications.

Email for more info.

Potato Basket

21″ x 21″ x 9″

Rib-work construction; hand-split white oak

There are few basket makers who work with white oak.  It’s labor intensive—this basket required hand splitting the good part of two small oak trees—and most of those with the know-how are getting on in years.

Although I’ve been blessed to learn from several master basket makers, the teacher for this basket died long ago.  It’s an interpretation of a Pennsylvania field basket likely made in the late 19th century.  As I learned by trial and error how to carve, whittle and bend the big ribs of the basket you see here, I marveled at evidence of how the original was created by sure and confident hands.  And I felt perhaps some old boy was looking down on me from above, and smiling as I carried forward lessons from his work.

White Oak Creel

8″x12″x6″

Split-work construction; white oak weaving and quarter-sawn oak lid; saddle leather strap

The basket shown is now part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum collection.

It’s made on a mold to maintain a perfect shape and will make a great complement to a fine bamboo fly rod.

Or, as my cycling friends were keen to suggest, it makes a primo handlebar basket (without the lid).

This is a popular basket that will make a wonderful and durable heirloom.