Rachel Elise Aughtry, artist
When Rachel Elise Aughtry graduated from the University of North Texas with a BFA in Fiber Art, she no longer had access to a piece of equipment that had been a big part of her creativity: a loom. “I couldn’t afford a loom of my own, and didn’t have the space for one,” she says. “An average floor loom has the footprint of a queen-size bed—it really needs its own room. My starter apartment definitely didn’t have the space for that! But I loved the skill and craft of weaving and hoped to return to it someday.”
Rachel Elise Aughtry, artist
She spent a decade designing and creating bags. “It was a very sustainable and economically successful way to make and sell my art, but I missed having a creative practice in my daily life,” she says. She felt that she was in a bit of a rut. So, early in 2023, she bought a small loom. “I then spent a week at John C. Campbell Folk School to revisit my weaving roots,” she says. “Since then, I’ve incorporated weaving into both my personal and professional life, creating textiles just for the joy of it.”
Her work employs completely vegan, natural fibers and non-toxic inks. In addition, she honors the natural world as much as possible in her work—whether that’s the Blue Ridge Mountains or places a bit farther from home. She used her latest handwoven cloth to make a small collection of bags, the Lunar Dream Handwoven Collection. “The color palette was derived from that image of the minerals of the moon, taken by the Artemis II astronauts in April of this year,” she says.
The Rachel Elise Studio is located at 10 North Main Street, Mars Hill. Hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday. Learn more at RachelElise.com and follow on Instagram @rachelelise_studio and Facebook (rachelelisestudio). Regional galleries carrying her work include the Southern Highland Craft Guild shops at the Folk Art Center and on Tunnel Road.
