About me
I grew up on an Oklahoma pecan farm, where the slow rhythms of working the land and tending to things by hand left a permanent mark. That same devotion to process, quality, and patience has shaped everything that followed.
I acquired my first Swedish handloom in 1997, and later traveled to the Vavstuga Weaving School in Massachusetts to deepen my craft within the Scandinavian weaving tradition. Thirty years on, those roots remain at the center of my practice. From my studio in Newburgh, New York, I work at my looms, each piece passing through my hands at every stage of preparation and weaving.
That intimacy with the loom informs everything — including my work beyond the studio. Since 2018, I have collaborated with F. Schumacher & Co. on licensed millwoven collections that bring handwoven sensibility to the interior trade. The collections marry sophisticated refinement with a laid-back livability, rooted in the same commitment to material and craft that defines my handwoven work.
My practice has always extended beyond the commercial. In 2015, I coordinated the American Hemp Flag Project — handspinning the first modern-era US-grown hemp to weave a flag flown over the Veterans Administration Center in Washington, DC. More recently, I have turned my research focus to British longwool fleeces and their untapped potential as an underutilized contemporary weaving fiber, collaborating with local farmers and mills to develop yarns and textiles suited to interior applications. This work, supported by New York State and the New York Fashion Innovation Center, represents a longer vision: that the most compelling materials of the future may be found by looking closely at the past.
My work has been exhibited at Manitoga and covered in Frederic, the Wall Street Journal, and the World of Interiors. I live and work in the Hudson Valley with my husband, photographer Richard Gary, and our studio dog, Willow.
By not automating the process, I'm able to be intimately involved with every step, each inch of yarn passes through my hands multiple times as it is prepared and woven.
The studio
My studio in Newburgh, New York houses several Swedish handlooms, each one a working tool in an active practice. Every textile begins here — from the first design sketches to the final wet finishing.
Working by hand rather than by machine means being present at every stage. Each inch of yarn passes through my hands multiple times as it is prepared, wound, threaded, and woven. Small adjustments happen continuously — in the color, the tension, the rhythm of the weave.
This intimacy with the process leaves its mark on the finished textile in ways that are worth knowing how to see. Two things to look for in any handwoven:
The place where a yarn is doubled — where a new yarn was joined into the web to replace an empty bobbin or a knot in the warp. A small record of the making.
The slight wave of a hand-pulled selvedge — the edge set by hand with each throw of the shuttle, creating a bound selvedge that can be highlighted rather than hidden.
These are not imperfections. They are the signature of the hand.
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Neal Beckstedt Studio
Jeffrey Bilhuber
Bonesteel Trout Hall
Mark Cunningham
Demisch Danant
Nina Farmer Interiors
Georgis & Mirgorodsky
Hacin + Associates
Emily Janak Interiors
Katch Interiors
Peter Pennoyer Architects
Reath Design
Rougemont Interiors GmbH
Schuyler Samperton
Stephen Shadley Designs
TenBerke Architects
Beth Webb Interiors
The Wiseman Group
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ELLE DECORATION France
Frederic
Interior Design Magazine
Martha Stewart Living
Milieu
The Textile Eye
Traditional Home
Veranda
Wall Street Journal
The World of Interiors