“Fiber has been my medium for 38 years and will always inspire and challenge me. Its tactile and supple qualities connect me to the earth and give me peace, thrills, and most of all, bliss.
— Vicki Fraser, Rugmaker
Born in the Central Valley, California, Vicki Fraser moved around the world all her life. Her art education began in Houston, Texas, and intensified in Florence, Italy, at the Academy of Fine Arts. That seat of the Renaissance gave her the love of conservation following the great flood in 1996. She studied embroidery techniques, lacemaking, and learned the skills of rug restoration while living in London. Vicki came to the Mendocino Art Center in 1991 to make her first Earth Rug and found an incredible community of fiber artists whose knowledge and generosity broadened her skills of spinning and natural dyeing and sustained her through her efforts to bring the California Rug to completion.
The Artist’s Inspiration for the Project
When asked who commissioned the rug, Vicki replied, “My heart commissioned the rug when I was six years old. My father’s work as a Civil Engineer took him the length of the state. Sitting in the backseat of the car, I wanted to jump out and run up the hills and run my hands over the golden grasses. I always knew that I wanted to capture that beauty in a work of art. Only when I trained in Oriental Rug Restoration did I find the medium which I would use for the California Rug.”