Holiday, Elsie

Elsie Stone Holiday - Basketweaver: Considered by collectors and museum professionals as one of the best Navajo basket weavers, Elsie Stone Holiday married into the famed Douglas Mesa family of weavers. Weaving baskets has become almost an obsession for her. "When I go two or three days without weaving, I get anxious to start again," she says. She weaves twelve hours a day, five days a week. "Sometimes I think, 'How long can this last?' " she says, but for now she is content with her art, finding immense satisfaction in creating premier quality baskets.

Learning the art of basket weaving from the family that is famous for the Navajo basket renaissance is certainly an advantage for Elsie, and she has added talent and dedication to that equation, with remarkable results. Elsie knew how to weave rugs before she married, so weaving baskets was fairly easy for her to master. She learned from such renowned artists as Mary, Sally and Lorraine Black, Rose Esplain, and her mother-in-law, Betty White Holiday. Then she made the art her own by using her natural, intuitive creativity.

The mother of six children, Elsie has been weaving about 25 years, since her children became old enough to allow her the time. Now they watch, and also weave themselves.

Elsie gathers the sumac strips used for her weaving along waterways around Hanksville or Moab, Utah, and Farmington, New Mexico. She says the reeds grow well along irrigation ditches, and are most pliable in the spring and fall. She gathers about a six-month supply and then takes it home and readies the material for weaving by stripping off the bark and splitting the branches. Then Elsie does something few other weavers care to do: she takes the split reed and pulls it through a hole in a can, to strip away any excess, making the strips uniform size. It is this, and her propensity for a uniform, tight weave, that makes Elsie's baskets premium quality. If she notices any irregularities, Elsie picks out her weaving and begins again. She truly cares about making her baskets perfect.

Elsie's technique is not her only fine point, she also has a wonderful imagination for new design ideas. Her subjects and style extends anywhere from traditional ceremonial baskets to creations that reflect Cubism, Pop Art, portraiture, fantasy and geometric designs. Elsie is modest when praised for her work, and eager for suggestions. She has a healthy desire to please those who buy her baskets.

Recognized as one of the best Utah artists, Elsie is the recipient of the 2021 Governor’s Mansion Award for Arts, and was the guest of honor at the state’s annual banquet.