Page 4 - Chehalis Tribal Newsletter - April 2023

4

GLOVES
From page 1
school and now participates in recreational leagues
and all-native American tournaments (hardball and
softball).
Though he found many ways to keep playing
the sport after high school, Burnett wanted more
opportunities to stay connected with the game he
loves. That’s when he started to focus specifically on
baseball gloves – one of the main pieces of equipment.
An idea is born
Burnett wanted to help others with their skill sets
and development. At first, he started by breaking in
different brands of baseball gloves to prep them for
game usage. That’s when he realized he could create
something unique by personally designing the gloves
to make them stand out and draw more interest.
He described his start in designing gloves as “a lot
of trial and error.”
“My first glove that I tried designing didn’t work
out so well,” Burnett said.
The design bled. He then started thinking of
methods to make the designs permanent. That is
when Burnett found
a specific ink that
creates a solid color
dye on the glove.
His business took
off from that point Ryan Burnett’s baseball glove art was displayed at
and has become the Washington State Museum of Natural History.
supplemental
income for Burnett,
who works full time
as a patrol officer
for the Chehalis
Tribal Public Safety
Department.
Custom designs
Burnett’s
background with art
is limited. He took a
couple of art classes
in school but only
worked with a few
different mediums
and did not study
any form extensively.
When starting a
design for a client,
he asks specific
questions to learn
more about the the rain to see what types of ink would bleed and
customer’s background. This helps Burnett develop what would be permanent.
one-of-a-kind designs for each individual. The first piece he designed was inspired by
Burnett has created various designs to represent Quinault Indian Nation and included totem poles on
his customers’ cultural backgrounds. These include the outside webbing of the glove.
Hawaiian, Samoan and various Native American To create the permanent design, Burnett uses
styles from different regions of the country. India ink. He loads a pen-marker with the ink and
Working closely with clients has given him the completes each design freehand.
opportunity to explore patterns and styles of different
tribes. Burnett makes sure to learn as much about Unique gloves get attention
each culture’s art so he can respect traditions. He said he didn’t think it was possible to turn his
Work in progress hobby into a profession and make money until 2019
It took time and practice for Burnett to become when one of his gloves was entered in an art contest
hosted by the Washington State Historical Society. His
comfortable designing for others. He started the work was displayed in an exhibit at the Washington
passion project and shared his first glove to social State Museum of Natural History in Tacoma.
media in 2015. He explained that he used the glove
as a “trial and error glove,” which he placed out in See GLOVES / page 5