Loveland Artist Studios on Main
529 Main, Lower Level
Loveland, Ohio 45140
Cell 513 / 722-6719
Primary mediums: rug hooking; needle and wet felting, painting, dying, and needlework . Pattern design and commissions.
McGown Rug Hooking Association
Teaching Certification, 2008
Buckeye Rug Hooking Guild
Vice President, 2009 thouth 2011
Weavers Guild of Greater Cincinnati
One-Person Show, 2008
Member, 2004 – present
Rug Crafters of Cincinnati, Member
Association for Traditional Hooking Artists, Member
I have participated in several juried show and numerous art fairs. I have won ribbons for rug hooking at both the Ohio State and Hamilton County Fairs. My work has appeared in Rug Hooking Magazine.
My desire is to convey a sense of whimsy, wonder and warmth with my art. I strive to have people want to touch my work and to smile. There are messages and emotions hidden at times among the loops, fibers, and paint. My art is sometimes a way for me to work out what is troubling me. But most of the time . . . my art is a way to explore and play. I know I am not happy if I am not creating.
I started felting after buying a vest while on a vacation in Maine twelve years ago. I said, “I want to know how to do this!” Basically, I use roving: wool fiber that has been shorn from sheep, washed, and combed. I dye the roving to get a good selection of colors. Then the fun begins as I sit down and just play. Using special barbed needles, I form characters, pillows, purses, flowers, and jewelry. I like that I can start and usually finish a smaller piece in one sitting. It is immediate gratification.
I have taught needle felting in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and West Virginia, and enjoy the fact that students seem to have fun and can leave with a finished product in one session. In my own art, I have often combined the techniques of needle felting and rug hooking.
I started rug hooking about eleven years ago after seeing a book on the subject advertised in Crafters Choice Book Club. The idea of using recycled 100% wool clothing to create a usable piece of art was very appealing. I design my own patterns unless I find another one that I love. One of my favorite pieces is the “Game Cube,” which I designed in collaboration with my father. The top is a hooked checkerboard/chess grid, and the sides have needle-felted images representing the various games that can be played on it: the queen chess piece, the joker from a deck of cards, dominoes, and Chinese checkers. This piece won a ribbon at the Sauder Village Rug Show and was featured in their advertising.
The reason I like hooking is that it is “painting” with wool. I love the texture, the planning, and the process. I continue to learn and to be challenged by the technique. I also really enjoy my fellow hookers and have found that being around creative people who think about fiber and color is very encouraging.
I grew up in Dayton, Ohio. As a child I was always drawing, painting and making things. Over the years, I have woven my way through painting, macramé, needlepoint, cross stitch, sewing, basketry, and numerous other crafts. I moved to Cincinnati about thirty years ago and now have a house full of wool and art supplies . . . and two cats.
Although I started college as an art major, I finished my formal education obtaining a Master in Social Work (MSW) from the University of Kentucky. I worked in the mental health field for thirty years helping individuals with severe mental illness, alcoholism and addiction. I started as an attendant in the state psychiatric hospital working nights and going to school during the day. Eventually, I became the Director of Mental Health for Warren and Clinton Counties and started a non-profit social service agency called New Housing Opportunities (NHO). As the agency’s first executive director, I helped the organization grow from a staff of one and a half employees providing housing for eighteen clients to thirty-three employees providing housing for over 150 clients at various locations in three counties.
