Susan L. Feller Self taught artist, creating mixed media work concentrating in rug making techniques including hooked, punched, needle felted, and dimensional collage; embroidery and applique’
rug pattern designer Ruckman Mill Farm; business name ArtWools;
BA in Art UMass/Boston
Curator
Freelance Writer
Author Design Basics for Rug Hookers, Stackpole Books, 2011;
Design in a Box- Frakturs Ruckman Mill Farm 2011
Studio open by appointment
INVITATIONAL EXHIBITS/VIDEO:
2021-22 Hooked by Design, Wisconsin Museum Quilts & Fiber Arts Trees in our Forest, Color in our Trees, AT Thru Hike 2020
Panel Conversation with Kris McDermet, Tracy Jamar and myself video
Textile Talks featuring Rachelle LeBlanc, Heather Goodchild and myself sponsored by SAQA and Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts video
2021 100 Days of Nature, at Taylor Books Annex Gallery, Charleston, WV
2021 Social Studies, Beckley Art Center, Beckley, WV multiple pieces including 2020 Journal panels
2020-21 Near and Far exhibit with Abbie Chessler at Grasshopper Gallery, Lost River Trading Post, Wardensville, WV
2020 Journeys, solo exhibit Beckley Art Center, Beckley, WV
2019 Susan Feller:Textile artist on Social Art, video Kira Mead, Australia
2019 Featured Artist ‘My Muse: Trees’ The River House, Capon Bridge, WV
2019 Invitational WV Artists Juliet Art Museum @ Clay Center, Charleston, WV
Chestnut Leaves, Virginia Creeper, Seneca Rocks #3 and Trees in our Woods
2018 Glimpses Inside Appalachia Raleigh Playhouse and Tavern, Beckley, WV solo exhibit opening coincides with taping of Inside Appalachia NPR
2018 Mountain Muse, Sweetwater Center for the Arts, Sewickley, PA
Haying Stages, Night Turbines, Neighbor Barn
2017 Caswell Impressions curator Laura Pierce, traveling collection #36
2015 Plein Air Hooking Group, curator Lori LaBerge exhibit Sauder Village, OH
2013-2014 iView, curator Linda Rae Coughlin “Orioles Returning in Spring Series”
2011-2012 Beyond Rugs!, Farnsworth Museum, Rockland, ME Iconic Liberty catalog
2009 Out of the Loop: Innovations in Hooking, Brookfield Craft Center, CT
2009 Japanese /American Exhibit III -STRIPES “Winter in West Virginia”
Tokyo, Japan;Woodbridge, NJ; and New Albany, IN brochure
2008 Fraktur Motifs Explored in Hooked Rugs,
at the Mennonite Heritage Center, Harleysville, PA
2006-2007 Wild, Wonderful Fibers– selected fiber artists, exhibit traveled within WV
2004-2009 Art Rugs: the ART of Playing Cards “Five of Spades” catalog
traveled to IN, NJ, NYC, OH, PA, VT
JURIED EXHIBITS/AWARDS:
2023 Women of Appalachia, The Dairy Barn Art Center, Athens, OH
Jane S. Choice, 2020 Journal January – June and July – December
Panel discussion with Suzan Ann Morgan and Nancy Herschberger
2022 OH+5 Biennial Regional exhibit, The Dairy Barn Art Center, Athens, OH
Mountaintop Removal Puzzle Artists Conversation video
2021-22 WV Juried Biennial Exhibition, The Culture Center, Charleston, WV WV Dept. Arts, Culture, & History 2020 Journal Jan-June, July-Dec; Fall Along the New River in WV catalog
2020 Symphony of the Mountains, Handweavers Guild Convergence, Knoxville, TN
Mountaintop Removal Jewel
2019-2020 WV Juried Exhibition, The Culture Center, Charleston WV WV Dept Arts,Culture & History Seneca Rocks #3 and Pussycats Pillow Talk #1 catalog
2018-19 Women of Appalachia Project, Morgantown, WV; Athens, OH
Iconic ERA, Pussycats Pillow Talk #1 WOAP
2018 Exhibit 280, Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV Valley View catalog
2017 20th Bi-ennal West Virginia Juried Exhibition purchase award
“Progress in the Mountains” catalog
2015 The Best of West Virginia, Tamarack, Beckley, WV Progress in the Mountains
2014 Hooked Art 2014, Newtown Hooked Art Shows,
The Gallery at UCONN, Stamford, CT “Nurturing Friendship”,
“Flowers for the McDonald Sisters”, “December Studies” catalog
2014 Travel Grant to attend Hooked Art 2014 WV Division of Culture and History
2013 Master Fellowship Tamarack Foundation www.tamarackfoundation.org
2013 West Virginia Biennial Juried Exhibition ,
Martinsburg, WV “Haying Stages”
2013 7Stitch: Contemporary Textile Art from Kentucky & the Surrounding States, Claypool-Young Art Building, Morehead State University, KY ‘Haying Stages’ Juror Jane Dunnewold
2013 1st Place WVDAR American Heritage ‘Iconic Liberty’
2012 “The Best of West Virginia” Tamarack, Beckley, WV “Vein of Energy-Coal”,
“Fire in the Mountains” SOLD
2011 The Best of West Virginia Tamarack, Beckley, WV Merit Award “My Mountain State”
2011 WV Juried Exhibition: Inspired Historic Places Charleston, WV State Museum “Winter in West Virginia”
2011 Celebrations XXI, Stackpole Books “Mountain Treeline”
2007 West Virginia Biennial Juried Exhibition, Parkersburg Art Center, WV
“Nurturing Friendship” Merit Award catalog
2007 Newtown Hooked Rug Show, CT Juried Class “Iconic Liberty”, “Fall Homestead”
2007 Celebrations XVII “Iconic Liberty”, Stackpole Books
2001 Textile Center of Minnesota, Hooked in the 21st Century, “Adam and Eve”
Judge Mary Sheppard Burton
2000 Celebrations X “Blowing Peonies”, Stackpole Books
APPOINTED MEMBER
2017-present Board of Directors Tamarack Foundation for the Arts, Charleston, WV
CURATOR OF EXHIBIT
July 12 – October 7, 2023 Stories are Made Loop by Loop Virginia Quilt Museum, Harrisonburg, VA TRAVELING THROUGH 2024
Oct 21, 2017- March 11, 2018 Face Time: Hooked Portraits and work from the collection of Schwenkfelder Library, co-curator with Candace Perry, Pennsburg, PA
2016 McDonald Sisters–Special Exhibit Sauder Village Rug Hooking Week, August
2015 Year Study Special Exhibit Sauder Village Rug Hooking Week August
Nov 2014-March 2015 From Garden to Table hooked work and collection material from the Schwenkfelder Museum and Library, Pennsburg, PA co-curator with Candace Perry Collections Director.
2013 Moods of Color and Value, Sauder Village, Archbold, OH August exhibit of 9 works by fiber artists each representing their interpretation of the color or value assigned. Article in Rug Hooking Magazine S/O 2013 issue.
2012 Zodiac Collection of Hooked Rugs, Sauder Village, Archbold, OH August exhibit of works in article of same title, Rug Hooking Magazine, J/F 2012
2012 Architecture in Contemporary Hooked Rugs and Traditional Folk Art, Schwenkfelder Museum and Library, Pennsburg, PA
2010 Fraktur Motifs Influence Contemporary Craftsmen Schwenkfelder Museum & Library, Pennsburg, PA 2009-10 and Shenandoah Valley Hooked Rugs VMRC Harrisonburg, VA
2008 Fraktur Motifs Explored in Hooked Rugs, Mennonite Heritage Center, Harleysville, PA
2007 The Color Purple, Shelburne Museum, Vt, Green Mountain Rug Hooking Guild
2006 Twelve Days of Christmas, Shelburne Museum, GMRHG
PRESENTER OF SESSION/INSTRUCTOR:
2022 Convener and Panelist Appalachian Studies Association Conference, WVU, Morgantown, WV Craftivism: Art Speaking by Makers and Communities
2015 Moderator Panel: Professionalism with Rug Hooking
Panelist: The Conversation of Fiber as Craft/Art, TIGHR Triennial, Victoria, BC
2012 Folk Art Designing Expo Strathalbyn South Australia
2009 Framing Fiber Tips, TIGHR Tri-Ennial, Louisville, KY
2000- present conduct workshops, lectures for fiber focused guilds, groups and events in Canada, US and AU on topics of interest: Fraktur Design, Mixed Media with Rug Hooking, Abstract Impressionism, Elements and Principles of Design, Telling our Story using Digital Media, Judging Hooked Rugs, Mentoring
Available for workshops at on-line or on location. Prospectus/references on request See Workshops
Judge Maryland State Fair, Hooked Rugs 2018, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012; Celebration XXVIII 2018, Celebration XV – 2006 Rug Hooking Magazine, Hooked Rug Exhibit Sauder Village, Archbold OH 2005
Juror of selection: Lead Juror for Collaboration:Ordinary -Extraordinary 2021 and
Re-Imagined Challenge, 2018 virtual exhibitions coordinated by Global Textile Hub, Australia, both premiered at Sauder Village Rug Hooking Week, Archbold, OH
ACE Riverfront 2006, Connexions Gallery, Easton, PA
AUTHOR
Design Basics for Rug Hookers, Dec 2011 published by Stackpole Books;
Design in a Box – Frakturs, Ruckman Mill Farm 2011 kit to create pattern using American Decorative motifs
Work published in: Eyes Open to the World, Karen D. Miller, Rug Hooking, 2019; Rug Hooking Journeys, Tamara Pavich, Rug Hooking, 2019; Rug Hooking Through the Year, “Star Flower and Fraktur Deer“, Rug Hooking, 2018; Coils, Folds, Twists and Turns, Tracy Jamar, Stackpole Books, 2017 “Hooked on Hooking”, WV Living Magazine Winter 2016; Early Homes Spring/Summer 2014; “Rug Hooking” by Jo Franco, Textile Magazine summer 2012, Australian publication; Design Basics for Rug Hookers, Susan L. Feller Stackpole Books, 2011; Best of West Virginia Calendar 2012, Tamarack Foundation; Contemporary Hooked Rugs and Modern Hooked Rugs, Linda Rae Coughlin, Schiffer 2006, 2007 ; Hooked on Rugs, Jessie Turbayne, Schiffer 2006; Hooked Rugs Today, Amy Oxford, Schiffer Publishing 2004 and 2006 editions; Hooking on the Hill, by Nancy Butts Thompson, U of Georgia Press 2005; By Hand, Lark Books 2001
Profile and project in Colonial Reproductions and Design, Stackpole Books 2005
Included in or wrote articles: Trees are My Inspiration, RHM N/D 19; McDonald Sisters of West Virginia, RHM J/F 2017; A Tale of West Virginia , RHM N/D 2015; RHM S/O 14; Rug Hooking in Australia by Jo Franco, TAFTA Winter 2013; Top 15 Tamarack Artists, WV Living Magazine, Summer 2011; Nesting Orioles article and pattern, RHM J/J/A 13; Zodiac Collection Rug Hooking Magazine, J/F 2012; Reader’s Gallery: Susan Feller by Linda Rae Coughlin, RHM N/D 11; Barbara Ebersol Fraktur Flower RHM S/O 11 The Color Purple, RHM J/F 08; Floored, by Hildreth York , Surface Design Journal Winter 2006; Patternmakers, RHM, M/A/M 05; ART RUGS,RHM, M/A/M 04; Patriotic Rugs, RHM, M/A/M 02; RHM 20th Anniversary Edition, Dear Beginner, RHM S/O 02
Freelance writer Articles written for Rug Hooking Magazine, Hampshire Review, Romney, WV; Hunterdon Democrat, NJ; Pieceworks Magazine, ATHA Newsletter; TIGHR Newsletter Hooking Matters, McGown Newsletter
Affiliations
Surface Design, member since 2011 www.SurfaceDesign.org
The21Collective, seven fiber artists from Canada and US
TIGHR – The International Guild of Handhooking Rugmakers www.TIGHR.net
CONTACT: PO Box 409, Augusta, WV 26704 rugs2wv@gmail.com
304-496-8073
ArtWools Studio of Susan Feller 