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ARTS & LITERATURE
LONGLEAF
Art SPOTLIGHT
Clay Burnette 1. FROM NATURE 12”H x 12”W x 15”
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2. TIPPING POINT 14”H x 21”W x 21” 3. WEDGED TOGETHER 10”H x 9”W x 25”L 4. WHY KNOT? 8”H x 14”W x 18”D
ABOUT THE ART
ABOUT THE ARTIST
I use the basic basketmaking technique of coiling to create contemporary shapes that incorporate lots of patience, persistence, and imagination. I begin the process by gathering fresh pine needles from longleaf pine trees that grow in the sandhills of South Carolina. The needles are colored with fabric dyes, acrylic paints, and iridescent inks, then sewn into coils using various colors of waxed linen thread. My tools are simple: a large steel upholstery needle and a pair of sharp-pointed scissors. When completed, each piece is preserved with a light coating of beeswax and signed with my initials. I follow no patterns and make no preliminary sketches before I begin a basket. Time is irrelevant whenever I am stitching. Exploring color, pattern, texture, and form keeps me focused on the moment but always thinking of what is yet to come. I treat each basket as a new adventure.
South Carolinian Clay Burnette is a self-taught pine needle basketmaker, coiling longleaf pine needles with waxed linen thread for almost 45 years. His work is included in numerous public and private collections and has been exhibited in over 250 venues throughout the U.S. and abroad. Significant exhibitions include Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America (2017-2020), Tradition/Innovation: American Masterpieces of Southern Craft & Traditional Art (20072013), Contemporary International Basketry (1999-2000 in the United Kingdom), and 100 Years - 100 Artists: Views of the 20th Century in South Carolina Art (2000). In 2013 and 2019, his work received the Award of Excellence from the National Basketry Organization. He is the recipient of the South Carolina Arts Commission’s Craft Fellowship for 2022, which he also received in 1988. Burnette lives in Columbia, South Carolina.
For more about the artist, visit clayburnette.com or find Clay on social media: Clay Burnette, basketmaker (Facebook), clayburnettebaskets (Instagram), or PineNeedleBasketsCB (Etsy). [ 46 ]
