Eureka Springs’ Vicki Hardcastle is a fiber artist and a new member of the Arkansas Craft Guild, a fine arts and crafts cooperative since 1962 based in Mountain View.
Hardcastle has lived in Eureka Springs since the early 1990s and is the sole proprietor of Hardcastle Folk Art store in Berryville on the downtown square.
Her juried acceptance to the Guild was during her participation in the 44th Annual Arkansas Craft Guild Christmas Showcase, held Dec. 2-4 in Little Rock.
Hardcastle made her artisan debut more than 40 years ago in southeastern Oklahoma. She found that her most enjoyable art form involved working with wool within the 19th century craft of rug hooking, then over time she expanded to needle felting because of her love for fiber arts and vintage wares.
Hardcastle’s unique vision allowed her to create uncommon conceptions, born of local culture and materials. Working art and craft shows throughout a multi-state region, she easily made a name for herself through designs that characterized life in the mountains.
“My needle felted figures are made with hand-dyed wool in two styles, folky animals, birds and dolls, or imaginative, funky, even creepy figures to make people laugh,” Hardcastle said. “Included in most felted pieces is something from my junk collection, as I love adding something hard to the softness of the wool.”
Hardcastle’s rug hooking style is folk-oriented, using mostly primitive colors of hand-dyed wool in her original designs.
“I have done many mixed media rugs where I include needle felting, ‘Proddy,’ and other techniques and fibers,” Hardcastle said.
Proddy is the technique of pulling short strips of shaped fabric up through backing fabric to the surface for a three-dimensional effect.
Hardcastle said she has been taught by nearly 20 teachers from across the country and even England.
“I learned rug hooking in a class I took in Eureka Springs in the late 1990s,” she said. “My very first needle felting was at a rug camp, just a little side class, but mostly I am self-taught.”
Hardcastle has the Hardcastle Folk Art shop at 409 Public Square in Berryville where she continues to showcase her work.
