About The Artist
Artist Jery B. Taylor with some of her baskets.
Jery B. Taylor is a descendant of the West Africans of Sierra Leone, where her style of basket weaving originates. Born and raised in the Christ Parish Church Community of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, she attended Rutledge College pursuing a certificate in Phlebotomy and Medical Administration. She worked at Charleston Hospital, then as a cosmetologist. In 1983 Jery decided to pursue her basket making as a career.
When Jery was just five years old, her grandmother taught her the art of basket weaving. Each family has distinct styles of basket construction and decoration. Jery, telling about her style of coil baskets, says, "A lot of families start their baskets with a knot. Our family, we never started it with a knot."
Jery is one of only two people making the traditional "Low Country Sea Island Coil Baskets."
Painted birdhouse by Jery B. Taylor.
Jery’s baskets have been displayed at the Smithsonian, the San Francisco Airport and the South Carolina Museum in Columbia, SC. She has been featured on the HGTV’s show Country Style and was included SC ETV’s documentary God’s Gonna Trouble the Water. Ms. Taylor presents workshops and shows her work in galleries nationwide.
Her folk art paintings will be introduced for the first time at the exhibition "Expressions in Sweetgrass: Paintings and Sweetgrass Baskets by Jery Bennett Taylor" at the Penn Center in Beaufort, South Carolina. This exhibition will open July 21, 2007.