MITCHELL WEAVES

Written by Miles McKeller-Smith
Photography By Mitchell Burleson
November 14, 2023

Mitchell Burleson’s passion for weaving is tangible. His brand is a short, powerful statement that doesn’t render many questions – “Mitchell Weaves”. The Charlotte-based fiber artist found the craft in high school and has only fallen more deeply in love with it as time has passed. We spoke with Mitchell about his introduction into weaving, his transition into becoming a full-time artist, and the future of fiber arts.

Let’s start with an intro.

So I’m from Clayton, North Carolina – a little town outside of Raleigh in Johnston County. That’s where I grew up and I lived my whole life really. My mom is a hobby photographer and scrapbooker. So I get a little bit of artistic influence there. And then my dad is a woodworker. Just as a hobbyist. So there was always a good amount of craft happening around me in their professional lives.

Growing up my brother and I were musicians. My brother went on to major in piano performance and composition. Then I cut my music journey short for myself, by the time I got to my senior year of high school . That’s when I picked up textiles and it was like a 180 switch, man. Like overnight. I picked up knitting at that time. That was my first foray into textiles. 

That just took over my life – and I knew that textiles were something I had to be a part of. It’s funny cuz I had spent so much time in music that I didn’t know anything about what I was getting myself into, or what career opportunities I would have. I had never even considered that being a full-time artist was a viable job or something that I could do. I just never stopped. It was something to keep my hands busy and to make something creative that was functional and useful for someone else. That was like where I really got the joy out of. It was like making something with my own hands that somebody else could use.

Then I looked up and I was like a sophomore at NC State studying textiles. I’ll be honest, the first year of textile school did not feel like textile school. It really felt like I was at art camp. I started doing art camps later in my career when I started going to places like Penland School of Craft to get that laid back vibe. I just kept making stuff and never looked back. 

Tell me a little bit about your experience at NC State. They have a pretty big textile school over there, don’t they?

I started at NC State in 2016. Now it’s the Wilson College of Textiles. But I was there studying fashion and textile design. I was surrounded by people in textile engineering, color chemistry, technical textiles – people that were looking to do science. And then there was a small group of us who were going into design. That degree is called fashion and textile design and like 30 people graduate from there each year.

You get to know your professors really fast in that program. So I got all the perks of going to a big engineering school with a very intimate education. I was on a first name basis with a lot of my professors – whether they wanted me to be or not. [laughs] And that really was pivotal to my experience. I would not be where I am now if it weren’t for working with the same 5 to 10 professors for four years straight. One of them in  particular, Janie Woodbridge, was the one that got me into weaving. I think I had my first weaving class during my sophomore year. From the day I started I was hooked.

In the beginning, the big thing for me was I wanted to knit shoes. This was like right when fly knit was becoming really popular and widely adopted in sportswear – and I loved that. I thought that that was the coolest thing that could possibly be done. Like you’re knitting athletic wear in one piece, no seams.

She got me and another girl on an independent study just hand weaving for a semester. And during that independent study, she recommended that I pursue outside education by going to places like Penland, which is in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. And Arrowmont, which is in the middle of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. They have a world renowned woodworking studio and is a place where people come from all over the world to learn different craft techniques.

But Janie encouraged me to take some classes that summer. It was after the first class at Arrowmont that I was like, “okay, I’m a, I’m a maker now. I’m making fabric for myself and other people that’s designed to be used, is very functional, and deserves a place in someone’s home.”

Even if I get way more into gallery work, I don’t know if I’ll ever consider myself like a fine artist. Because no matter what story I’m trying to tell through the fabric, at the end of the day,  I’m just making fabric.

Let’s talk about your process. Now that you are creating full-time, has your creative process shifted? Do you still do things that you consider art? Or are you more focused on meeting a demand that you see?

Yeah. So I’m a maker and a craftsperson at the very base. There’s a longstanding argument between arts and crafts. I know many craftspeople who do not consider themselves artists even when they’re foraying into wallwork and fine craft and doing stuff for galleries. At the end of the day, a lot of us just see ourselves as makers. We share that in common. 

This is a loaded one for me for sure because on one hand I have made the decision to be a business owner. “Mitchell Weaves” is a full-time job for me and I have to do certain things to make money. I have to know my material cost and for each product.

Read the full interview in Issue 3 of crEATe Magazine