Joe Bruneau first started making baskets after taking an Appalachian Craft Workshop hosted by Warren Wilson College in 1983. As a student in the art program, he had the opportunity to study other types of basketry before finding his two favorite varieties to weave…the melon basket and the potato basket. For over 20 years, Joe has enjoyed playing with color, texture, and shape with his baskets. Materials typically used for the frames are native wood products, including grapevine, honeysuckle, and kudzu, to name a few, and hand-dyed rattan.

Joe currently teaches workshops through the NC Arboretum in Asheville, the Creekside Continuing Education at Brevard College in Brevard, the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, and the Transylvania Arts Council in Brevard, as well as private lessons. Joe’s baskets can be found at the Gallery of the Mountains in the Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC and at Number 7 Fine Arts & Crafts Cooperative in Brevard, NC where he is also currently the gallery manager. In 2006, one of his potato baskets was featured in the HGTV Dream Home Giveaway.

Joe Bruneau
jbruneau@citcom.net
www.number7arts.com