*Dennis Chilcote* is a basket maker who combines fine woodworking and various traditional Native American and Scandinavian basketry techniques to create works of his own design. Over the last eight years, he has won nine blue ribbons at the _Minnesota State Fair_ as well as many “best of show” awards at art fairs and invitational exhibitions throughout the Upper Midwest. An engineer by profession, Dennis grew up in northern Minnesota where his forays into the woods bred a life-long fascination with nature crafts. He harvests most of the materials he uses and writes that “as a maker of baskets and bark containers, the continuity I experience from gathering to finishing gives me a connection to my work that few modern basket makers are privileged to experience. As a woodworker, my use of wood, bark, and root gives me a unique connection to the tree. My art is a personal celebration of the beauty that greets me every time I step into the wilderness.” _To see more examples of Dennis Chilcote's work, go to *www.mnartists.org* and look for his name among the list of basket makers under the category of visual arts._ "You can read our interview with Dennis Chilcote here. ":dennis_interview