JANE FISHER

I'm originally from the south of England. I studied to become a nurse there and worked as a mid-wife, riding my bicycle from house to house, much like in the TV series, 'Call The Midwife.'

I came to America in the 1970's and became a citizen here. Although I've been back a few times, I still consider this home. I've lived in many places the U.S., and continued working as a nurse until I retired a few years ago.

I lived in Florida with my friend and artist, Jim for many years. We came to Western North Carolina on vacation several times before deciding to move to this wonderful area. We bought a house not far from Hendersonville and I became interested in learning many of the crafts still being practiced here. I focus my talents on working with larger gourds, creating baskets with pine needle edging on them, and creating bird houses with the gourds as well. Much of my work is hand-painted, and I recently began working with the Lichtenberg process, which burns lightning-like patterns in wood, or in my case, my gourds. I've taken many art courses here, including basket weaving, gourd basket making, working with pine needles to create baskets and other useful and decorative items, and weaving.

When I'm not creating work in gourds, I enjoy knitting and belong to a local knitter's group. I'm an avid reader as well and joined a book club here. I also volunteer my time at a local animal shelter. We enjoy life here in the mountains of Western North Carolina, and spend time working on our home, gardening, and hiking with our dog, Layla. We were also recently adopted by a stray cat we ended up naming Simon.

My vision is to create beautiful pieces of art with my gourds that people can enjoy themselves or give as gifts and remember their visit here.

Enjoy!