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Toni Best has been a creator and advocate of basketry for over forty five years.  Originally from the east coast – Virginia and North Carolina, Toni received her first basket training in willow and reed.  Utilizing this medium in a variety of styles, Toni eventually extended her craft to coiled basketry fabricated from pine needles and raffia.  Using these natural materials, Toni has expanded upon native designs and weaves basketry that echo many American cultures while illustrating her own innovations and imagination.

Since relocation to the west coast, her teaching has progressed from private lessons to classes taught locally and around the state and at gourd and basket festivals. Her baskets have been featured at the Wooden Indian Gallery in Visalia, as a special exhibit of weavers at the Kings Rivers Art Center in Hanford, Arts Visalia in Visalia, the juried Top of the Line Craft Show in Visalia, “Baskets As Art” at Harmony Works  Gallery in Redondo Beach, The Jasmine Gallery in La Jolla, and Gualala Basket Exhibition.  She is also a member of the Bay Area Basket Makers, Handweavers of the Valley,  Misti Washington Gourd and Basket Guild, and the California Gourd Society.  She has been awarded first prize for her skill through the Southern Conference of Handweavers in California and the California Gourd Society.