Member Spotlight: Marilyn Diehl

Marilyn Diehl | Mt. Olive, MS
Member since 2008
Member Classification: Fellow
Medium: Fiber. Artist Categories: Baskets and Caning

Marilyn Diehl’s nephew, Roger Jamison, began weaving when he was 13. By the time he was 18 in 1994, he was accepted into the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi, Inc. Also a teacher, Marilyn began watching Roger and learning to make baskets. Helping Roger for a year or two, Marilyn had no idea that in 2002 she would buy his business and move his 500-square-foot shop to the Diehl family home nestled on Highway 532 near Hot Coffee, MS.

In the fall of 2015, Marilyn moved the business to its current location on Main Street in Mount Olive and changed the name to the Basket Cottage. Split rattan is used to make the baskets. Solid hickory and oak are used for the handles. The baskets are trimmed with sea grasses, round reed and cane. Each basket is dated, numbered and signed. Marilyn’s baskets have been shipped all over the United States and Canada, as well as Italy, Germany, Brazil and England.

BASKETS, CANING, FIBER, MEMBER SPOTLIGHT, WOOD