I moved to Scottsville, Kentucky 21 years ago with my husband, Gary. We had one glorious year together here in Kentucky with our Corvette and new friends. Then he had a heart attack at the age of 52 and died. I became a widow and lived by myself for the first time in my life. About six months later I joined the Sunny 16 Camera Club, the Allen County League of Artists and Craftsmen, and the Scottsville Art Guild to pursue my hobbies and get out of the house, plus meet people with like interests. There began my journey of self-discovery.
I learned more about my photography. Then in 2007 I started painting for the first time and enjoyed it. That year, I decided to go to college and get an associate degree in Computer Art with a major in Internet Web Design. It was in those classes I learned to use Photoshop, which got my creative juices going.
I did my internship, just after starting at my new company GH Productions, in February 2009 with an internet presence called the Basket Maker’s Catalog in Scottsville, Kentucky. At this company, a new passion was born – weaving handmade baskets. I started taking basket classes from Beth Hester, one of the owners of GH Productions, the same month I started there. We had internationally- and nationally-known basket teachers coming to Scottsville to teach classes here.
I kept soaking up the knowledge. In 2019 I joined the Kentucky Basket Association and started attending their workshops. Then I started attending basket workshops all over Kentucky. After 15 years’ working at GH Productions, the business sold, and that was about two years ago. It has been renamed the Basket Maker’s Supply and moved to Taylorsville, Kentucky.
That is when I joined the Hoot Basket Club and the Monroe County Basket Club. I have been weaving for over 17 years now. I have been setting up at craft shows throughout the area for the last 20 years on the side. When I semi-retired two years ago, I started doing more shows and started a small business on the side called Marsha’s Holm-Made Creations. Plus, at the end of 2024, I started teaching beginning basket classes.
What I sell and show has changed over the years as I added skills to my portfolio. I love nature, flowers, and landscapes, so a lot of my photos and paintings depict those subjects. I’ve made my photography and paintings into note cards for shows. My baskets are made from cane, reed, black ash, white oak, watercolor paper, and coiled from cotton rope with blended cord. I now also do custom baskets.
So my hobbies have become my passions. I’m proud of the fact that my passions have received recognition over the years. If you want to contact me, I’m on Facebook or you can email me at mholm0531@gmail.com.