Mary Carty
Mary weaves both traditional and contemporary baskets. Many of her baskets, such as her antler baskets, pine needle baskets, and woven rim gourd bowls, are works of art in their own right. An extremely talented basket weaver with decades of experience, Mary has won numerous ribbons and awards for her original basket designs, including best of division at the Burlington County Craft Fair.
Mary is always experimenting with new shapes and different materials to create useable art in the form of baskets. She is also very knowledgeable in multiple forms of basketry and the history of many basketry forms. Mary is a descendant of the indigenous inhabitants of New Jersey, and draws much of her creative inspiration from this ancestral link.
Mary loves to share her knowledge with both students and customers. She has taught basketry classes everywhere from Wheaton Arts in Millville, New Jersey to Kentucky Music Week Festival in Bardstown, Kentucky.
Steven R. Carty
Steven was exposed to basketry at an early age with the influence of his mother, Mary Carty. However he did not take it up as a trade until later in life when he became a professional basket weaver and basketry teacher.
Though he often tends to drift away from traditional styles and patterns, he does use many traditional and local materials. Some of which he often gathers from the wild. Much of his weaving inspiration comes from the land where he gathers these wild materials, the creeks, forests, and shores of South Jersey.
Not only can many of Steven’s baskets be found on display locally, he himself can be found weaving at events and festivals across New Jersey and much of Pennsylvania. He has also taught, demoed, or displayed basketry at places such as Rutgers Camden, Peters Valley School of Craft, Perkins Center For the Arts, Awbury Arboretum, Burlington County Parks Department, Ocean County Library System, Whitesbog Historic Village, James Still Historic Site and Education Center, and for the NSCDA at Historic Peachfield.
Mary and Steven's basket weaving skills are featured in this documentary on the Pine Barrens.
