Marcia Mullins has been working with black ash for more than 30 years. She learned traditional indigenous techniques from Mike Sagataw, a Potawatomi elder with a deep reverence for honoring the ancestors’ knowledge. Following Mike’s teachings, Marcia honors each felled tree and believes the spirit of an ash tree remains within the forms woven from its wood. Each summer, she travels to a favorite cedar swamp near Lake Superior, where one tree is selected and processed into high-quality weaving splint.
While Marcia crafts various functional vessels for commissions and fine art shows, her passion lies in creating free-form sculptures. Gnarly roots, twisted branches, English willow, and deer antlers provide structure for narrow ash weavers. She credits her love for sculptural weavings to Tom McColley, who challenged her to focus on form for a full year. If he felt a weaving was functional, it was destined for the wood stove. Nothing but firewood hit the coals.
Marcia’s work has been featured in a mini-documentary and exhibited in Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ontario. In 2017, her work was selected for a year-long billboard installation representing the art of Polk County, Florida.
More about Marcia at Border Weave