My family has lived in western North Carolina for generations.
Many of my family members made their living from jobs provided by the textile mills that spanned the region until the 1990s.
My artistic curiosity is guided by a deep desire to understand my family and my place in southern Appalachian culture.
I have been creating with fiber since I first worked in my family’s fabric store in the late 1970s. I studied clothing construction and costume history as an undergraduate. I first learned to weave on a Navajo rug loom, which fed my love and passion for making rugs. For 20 years, I was an instructional designer and business consultant. In 2020, I returned to school full-time, studying weaving and completing a certificate in professional craft fiber.
I am particularly interested in working with materials that have been cast off or that have no apparent worth at first glance. These materials have histories that inspire the objects I create. I follow traditions that have perfected the use of upcycled materials, including the Japanese art of Sakiori and Scandinavian rug weaving.