I mentioned in
my last post that I discovered a wonderful fiber artist in
Staunton, VA and had the chance to wander about her studio/shop called
Appalachian Piecework. The fiber artist is Laurie Gundersen. You might say that she is a
Renaissance woman or a
Jacqueline-of-All-Trades when it comes to the fiber arts.
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| A selection of just some of the traditional fiber techniques that Laurie excels in. |
At the cooperative gallery I belonged to for 20 years we had a running joke...without fail tourists would wander in and ask, "Did you make all these?"...referring to a multitude of art and wearable pieces in techniques ranging from felted vessels to hand-dyed shibori scarves. Of course, we had to politely reply, "No, we have 65 artists producing these works." When I walked into Laurie's shop, I figured she was one of many artists displaying work in the space. There were woven baskets, pieced quilts and handbags, woven as well as shibori scarves, nuno felted accessories, hooked rugs, wool felt
Penny quilts, and stitched wall pieces. So imagine my surprise when I found out that she actually
did make all these items!
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| I'm now wishing I'd purchased some of these gorgeous shibori silks. |
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| Rolls of vintage fabrics and a beautiful hand-stitched piece in the works. |
I was first drawn to some of the stitched and framed pieces having just recently taught both my
Story Cloth class and
Healing Cloth workshop. Laurie combines natural hand-dyed fabrics (including Indigo and Osage) with bits and pieces of old quilts. There are lots of beautiful hand-stitched details. When I asked her about them, she informed me that she is presently working hard to produce works for a solo exhibition in October in New Haven, CT. I asked her if I could take photos of her shop/studio being careful not to include shots of the pieces for that show. She very graciously said, "yes". In addition to creating her own works, Laurie also repairs/restores vintage quilts and handwoven coverlets.
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| This cozy corner has rolls of hand-dyed (many using natural dyes) wool felt. I loved the colors and bought a number of them thinking how great they'd look with some hand stitching. |
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| Laurie uses many natural dyes. |
Her shop is located at the train station in
Staunton, Virginia. I highly recommend a visit!
