Bev Larson

Bev Larson took an unusual path to becoming an Indiana Artisan.

“Life can throw you lemons, and you need to make lemonade,” Bev says. “My daughter [Tina] passed away from cancer in 1988. I needed something to fill my time, and the YWCA in Lafayette was offering basket classes.

“I took three classes, and the rest is history,” she adds. “Fell in love with it.”

That was nearly 30 years ago, and Bev has been honing her craft ever since. Make that “crafts,” plural. “Brooms came along a little later,” says the rare Indiana Artisan who has had two very different art forms ‘juried in.’

“Both broom making and basket weaving allow me to think outside the box and create a piece of art,” she explains. “Inspiration can come from within or from the material I am working with, or from someone or something around me. The excitement I feel as a basket is evolving is invigorating.”

She also credits her daughter for inspiration. “As I look at all my supplies and baskets, I roll my eyes upward and say ‘look what you started!’ I know every basket has a little ‘Tina’ blessing.”

Bev believes everyone needs a passion, and weaving and broom making certainly are hers.

“When you love what you do, it comes out in your work,” she says. “Basket making and broom making are old, traditional art forms.”

She credits her environment for a lot of her creativity. “Indiana is just plain and simply home. I love the down-to-earth values and the farm-fresh air. I use sticks from Indiana farmers’ fence rows and wool from the sheep of some of those same farmers. Indiana woodworkers make the wood bases for my baskets, and Indiana blacksmiths make the handles for my brooms.”