The Inspiration for a Life in Basketry

I have a good post today. I actually wrote it in the beginning of March with the intent of posting it days before Eric’s workshop at North Carolina Basketmaker’s Association where he was teaching a special basket. Special? Yes, I think so. It’s about a basket Eric designed over 20 years ago that was one of the inspirations for Eric’s entire basket career. He may disagree slightly with that statement but that’s how I see it and it’s my blog so I can write what I want. (Sorry Mr. Basketmaker but if you want to write your own stuff, start your own blog! lol) 

But sadly, due to a death in the family, his classes in North Carolina were cancelled but I saved what I wrote to upload in October when he would re-debut it at the Association of Michigan Basketmakers Convention. However, in light of Eric recently receiving a letter from his father’s former partner, I think it’s a good time to post it today and introduce his Cottage Carrier Swing basket.

Artists get inspired from other artists. Been that way since the beginning of time. If you think about it, God is an artist in what he created, and we as humans, copy His accomplishments on a daily basis. We paint his flowers and trees, we fashionably dress our bodies (or in some cases ‘underdress’ like Eric and I), we cook amazing dishes from the food He created and I could go on. Not to get spiritual here but making a quick opening point that artists all get inspired from other artists — it’s in our DNA to share and incorporate and create.

Now what makes an artist or a designer or a craftsman have a sort of ‘ownership’ for their creation after all this “incorporating” is when you look at their body of work to date, you begin to see their identity or their style or their “look” so to speak.

For instance, let’s use Mr. Basketmaker. As we all know, he crafts baskets. And he is known for his Cottage line. This look started on paper over 20 years ago. And it has evolved into I’d say at least over 50 baskets. But you recognize it’s an Eric Taylor basket from many things — but the most identifiable, as I have learned, are his constant elements which are: 

The contrasting colors of the cherry vs. the ash; the handle on the outside of the rim; the use of brass screws through this outside handle and rim; brass nails along the outer edge; and most importantly, simple clean design.

These all identify an Eric Taylor basket. And I might add, all these elements were never seen before at the Basket Shop where he apprenticed so many years ago (Okay, I sort of had to add that part today due to the content of earlier-mentioned letter). Eric had a great learning experience as a basketmaker when he apprenticed with his father and Martha Wetherbee. And he did exactly what most people do after their apprenticeship is done—you learned it and now you create your own stuff. 

Eric’s current style actually developed more from a necessity. I’ll explain. Every day, he worked at a traditional basket shop. All the baskets were reproductions of past designs such as Shaker, Nantucket and Bushwacker. But as Eric told the story “He wandered off the path with ill-received experimentation.” Since creating his own design was not allowed, he would go home and design baskets, completely ignoring what was right or wrong, proper or improper, traditional or not. 

At the time, he endured being met with resistance, but not for long. His favorite quote that I have heard over and over again from Eric is that after he showed one of his designs and hoping to convince the “shop” to create something unique, he was told “Where the hell are you going with this.” 

He said that remark sealed the deal for him. He went home frustrated, yet realized he liked what he created and when he compared it to all his other designs, he started to see a bigger picture. Also, he knew he could no longer share his ideas with the Basket Shop. And that determination inspired him to come home at night and create several more designs, develop a a business plan all while spending his days producing reproductions at the Basket Shop. After a couple years of that, he was ready and set out on his own with a few solid designs, a plan and never looked back. 

That is until he saw a basket that he gifted back in the late 90’s to his father and his father’s partner, sitting on a shelf in a student’s home. And that’s where we are today. Stay tuned…

The above photo is his current Cottage Swing Basket based on his original creation. He has perfected it to be flawless in not only design, but in functionality. That’s why it’s one of my favorites. It’s the epitome of an Eric Taylor basket in the quality, look, function and craftsmanship.  

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