BY PHILL BARNETT
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

LEXINGTON – Martin County native LouRae Stacy has started a creative new business handmaking and selling colorful pop art rugs. Stacy’s company Calico Rugs can be found on social media and at their website calicorugs.com, where you can purchase and request custom rugs.

“I have a cartoony illustration style that has a bit of a whimsical, child-like appearance…but with a twist,” said Stacy. “I wanted to find a unique way to present these illustrations, and at the time, a ton of tufting videos were coming across my social media pages.

“Rug tufting became that gateway to a physical medium for me, and it was something that not a lot of artists in the area were getting into.”

Rug tufting is an art form that uses a heavy-duty tufting gun to weave yarn into a base layer of fabric, creating beautiful intricate patterns.

The yarn is then shaved down to the desired length, allowing for different texture and pattern combinations.

The resulting “fuzzy art” can be used as a traditional rug or framed and/or hung like artwork, as you’ll see Stacy do with many of her pieces.

“I really like the hands-on process of creating rugs and watching an idea come to life out of what sometimes starts as a fluffy mess of yarn,” said Stacy.

When Stacy isn’t creating whimsical textile artwork, she can also be found making music with fellow Martin Countian Joe Dean Hinkle in their indie-folk duo LÄZERTÄG, which is set to release an EP in 2023.

Follow Stacy, Calico Rugs, and LÄZERTÄG on social media to keep up with their latest releases.