Laura Carpender, fiber and gourd artist, has discovered a way to combine the two media. As she explained, “The contrast between the soft fabrics and fibers and the toughness of the gourds is exciting and has endless possibilities.” The variety of art Carpender fashions will be featured at Sutter Creek Gallery for the month of September.
Since she was three years old, Carpender has been creating with fiber and fabric when her Grandmother gave her a needle and cloth to make doll clothes. She has won numerous awards for clothing, weaving and quilting designs. Recently she won 18 ribbons at the Amador fair for her home arts. For two years, she taught quilting at an Arizona community college.
Carpender is a member of the Del Oro Spinners and Weavers Guild as well as the Amador Gourd Patch. She has been weaving for about 15 years, spinning for over 30 years, and working with gourds for about 3 years. During her thirty years as a social worker, Carpender found the only way to save her sanity was to create art every day. Now that she is retired, she devotes hours each day to her designs. She is inspired by the work of others but manages to find her own way.
Whether spinning yarn, painting gourds, weaving fabric or sewing quilts, Carpender is happiest when creating one-of-a-kind art. "There are so many different ways to approach art that it is a never-ending source of excitement and challenge," she said. For example, she has used the yarn from an unraveled sweater to decorate gourds, recycling and innovating at the same time.
Sutter Creek Gallery invites you to meet Laura Carpender at the September 6 reception in her honor and view the imaginative artworks in her various media. The reception, from 4 to 7 p.m., is part of the region’s First Saturday Art Trek. She is one of 30 local artists exhibiting at the cooperative located in the heart of Sutter Creek at 35 Main Street. The gallery is open Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For additional information, call 209-267-0228 or email suttercreekgallery@gmail.com
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