Carol Emarthle-Douglas

The School of Advanced Research is pleased to welcome Carol Emarthle-Douglas as the 2016 Ronald and Susan Dubin Fellow. An accomplished coil basket-weaver, Emarthle-Douglas was the proud recipient of the Best of Show Award for the 2015 SWAIA Indian Market. Inspired by designs from the Northern Arapaho Plains style beadwork, ledger art and parfleche designs of her mother’s people, she has also incorporated the colors and patterns of Seminole patchwork influenced by her father’s Seminole Nation of Oklahoma heritage.

Emarthle-Douglas comments:

I have chosen contemporary materials to produce my baskets, I use hemp twine and waxed linen thread for my large baskets and use round reed with raffia which is a palm fiber along with silk threads to create my miniature baskets and jewelry pieces. The technique I use is the traditional coiling method which is one of the oldest methods used in basketry. I consider myself a Traditional/contemporary basket weaver.

Carol Emarthle-Douglas, “Cultural Burdens”, 2015. Mixed media. Photo courtesy of the artist.

While at SAR, Emarthle-Douglas will take full advantage of the IARC collection and library. Already familiar with a great deal of imagery through her own research, the opportunity to study pottery, beadwork and basketry in the collection will offer insights into unique tribal shapes, designs and symbols. She writes, “Even though these are different types of art than my own, my interest is to draw inspiration from other artists and to integrate these concepts into my own art form.” In the studio, Emarthle-Douglas will combine the old technique of coiled basketry with a fairly new beadwork style, she recently learned while attending a Northwest Native Basketweavers Association gathering. She is considering incorporating either an Arapaho parfleche design and color or even a Seminole patchwork design.

Emarthle-Douglas teaches a variety of groups in the urban Native American community which include students from the Indian Education Program from elementary grades through high school, and she also works with the Native American homeless in the Seattle area. She also works with Native American elders through the Northwest Indian College where the weavers can in turn teach what they have learned and then share their knowledge with their community. Emarthle-Douglas will be in residence from June 15-August 15, 2016.