Shirley Eichten Albrecht
Life's Tapestry
Life's Tapestry
11”H x 10”W x 6.5”D
Original one-of-a-kind fiber on gourd sculpture.
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“Life’s Tapestry”
By Shirley Eichten Albrecht
“Life’s Tapestry” is my tribute to my friend and fellow fiber artist, Mary Flaisig, who recently passed away. She began with tapestry weaving and then later combined it with basketry to create her unique and beautiful fiber sculptures. When I started weaving this sculpture, it was after helping to clean out her studio of her yarn and beads. I had well over 10 boxes of yarn, all sorted by color, and many plastic bins of her beads, again all sorted by color, sitting in my studio. As a result, I found myself using some of her yarns in the weaving, which is more of a tapestry weave.
“Life’s Tapestry” is a two-sided gourd sculpture. One side is woven, and the second side has a geode embedded in it. The finished is size: 11”H x 10”W x 6.5”D. The challenge was the carving for the geode so as not to go through the gourd. The finishing touch was topping it with a small woven basket which included Mary’s favorite yarn, Manos del Uruguay.
I will always think of Mary whenever I see this art piece. She will be missed but not forgotten!
Explore Shirley Eichten Albrecht Fine Art Gourd Sculpture
It’s understandable if the term “basket” doesn’t automatically come to mind when you see one of Shirley Eichten Albrecht’s sculptural works of art. That’s because Shirley has made a name for herself – first in St. Louis, where she became intrigued with basket weaving, and now in Sedona, where she is known as “the basket lady” – reimagining her chosen medium. Her sculptures incorporate gourds, raku pottery she creates herself and antlers, all inextricably intertwined with natural fibers in ways that are new and fresh.Shirley allows her materials to dictate form, elevating what is often considered craft to fine art.
Shirley has won numerous local, regional and national awards, and has been juried into prestigious shows in Arizona, Colorado, Ohio, California and Missouri. Her work has appeared in publications including Phoenix Home & Garden.