Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is very pleased to announce that Fiber Artist, Judy Carter has been named as the Gallery’s new featured artist and she will now be promoted by the gallery for the next 14 days in the gallery's Artist Showcase.

Judy was selected as 1 of the top twelve finalists of the gallery's recent Solo Art Exhibition Series #4. Below are Judy's Artist Biography, Artist Statement and 5 images that were submitted to this competition.

Artist Biography:

Judy Carter was born and has lived in Lancaster County, PA her entire life. She worked in the banking industry throughout her career and currently is a Branch Manager for a large Credit Union. Judy also has a creative side. She is a Master Artisan with the PA Guild of Craftsmen in Traditional Rug Hooking. She uses hand dyed and as-is wool to create many styles of hand hooked rugs. The wool is cut into narrow strips which are pulled through backing (rug warp, monk’s cloth, or linen) using a hook to create individual loops.

Judy was always interested in doing handwork but found her passion when she took a rug hooking class for beginners in 1993. She has been hooked ever since. Judy increased her skill by taking classes and workshops from over 40 teachers, as well as, using all styles of rug hooking. These styles range from primitive projects using 1/4” or wider strips, to finely shaded pieces using 1/8” or narrower strips of wool. She developed her own style of using many (50 – 100) different wools in each piece as her experience increased.

She specializes in realistic animals and takes many of the photos she uses as visual aids at animal sanctuaries and zoos. Some of the animals she visits on a regular basis and the personal interaction and connection she feels with the animals comes through in her hooking. She also does pet portraits which create a lasting lifelike tribute to a favorite pet. Judy enjoys seeing animals come to life at the end of her hook and constantly challenges herself to add more details and realism.

Judy not only enjoys creating detailed art pieces, she strives to inspire others. She writes articles for Rug Hooking Magazine and wrote the book Hooking Animals which was published by Stackpole Books in 2014. She does presentations and teaches throughout the U.S. and was the Featured Exhibit at Sauder Village Rug Hooking Week in OH in 2015. Judy has been accepted as an Emerging Artist at the Long’s Park Art Festival in Lancaster, PA which is held over Labor Day weekend and is one of the top 50 Art Festivals in the U.S. She plans to continue creating beautiful works of art and sharing her enthusiasm and passion for rug hooking through writing and teaching.

Artist Statement:

As an artist, I strive to recreate the beauty I see around me and inspire others to see details and beauty everywhere they look. The art form I use is traditional rug hooking, which uses narrow strips of wool. The strips are pulled through backing material (rug warp, monk’s cloth or linen) with a hook to make individual loops which create a hooked piece that will last for generations.

I specialize in animals because I feel a special connection to them and I love to see animals come to life at the end of my hook. By using many different as-is and hand dyed wools, I am able to mix them as I hook to recreate the details I see in animals. I choose my subjects and visual aids carefully and that care and connection comes through in my finished pieces.

There are many animal projects in my future. Whether they are wild animals, or favorite pets, I plan to honor them by creating lasting tributes with my art. Judy’s website is www.jcrugs.com.