Terry & Ancil Harbin, Louisville, KY

Shaker Reflections

baskets

Terry Harbin grew up in Louisville along with two sisters and four brothers. With her mother preoccupied raising a large family, Terry began to use her creativity by decorating the family home. Terry has always made things with her hands and began to collect primitive furniture and wooden wares to use in decorating homes. Baskets were always of interest to Terry and after making her first one in an Adult Education class, she expanded and refined her basket making skills by studying with well-known basket weavers in the region. Terry’s biggest influence has turned out to be the Shakers, and she explains, “Their craftsmanship, eye for detail, and the functionality of their baskets are the things that I strive for in my work.”

Terry creates her baskets from reed, a plant related to the palm tree, whose inner layer is cut and used in baskets and a variety of woven objects. Her handles are often made from hand–hewn oak or hickory and the base of most of her baskets are made over a wooden mold in the Shaker “Cathead” style. She sometimes uses smoked reed as a highlight and design element in her baskets. Terry also creates market, field and work baskets.

Terry’s baskets can be found at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea, Berea, KY; Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill in Harrodsburg, KY; True Kentucky , Glendale, KY; the Kentucky Museum of Art & Craft in Louisville, KY; A Taste of Kentucky in Louisville, KY.