Artists' Gallery Sunriver

A love of history, color and texture inspire fabric artist Charlene Virts’ weavings. From functional items with a unique regional flare, to items reflecting the local environment, Charlene creates what moves her emotionally.

As a child, seeing my mother and grandmother spend time creating wonderful hand-made items (tatting, crochet, macramé) has left me fascinated with fiber-based hand work.

In my 35 years of fiber arts, I have made my home in a variety of locations in the West – the high desert of Northeastern Nevada, Sonoma Valley wine country and Central Oregon.  I’ve always been captivated by the feel and tradition of functional craft and artwork rooted in each region.

From saddle blankets in Nevada’s cowboy country to wearable art in California’s Sonoma Valley, most of my work has been focused on weaving. When I moved to Central Oregon I began exploring the history of pine needle baskets and creating my own. Each of my coiled baskets is unique, made of Ponderosa Pine needles collected near my home. In my travels I have collected baskets from around the world, often with the good fortune of meeting the basket makers — storage baskets from the Philippines, Hawaiian coffee harvest baskets, Labradorean grass baskets, sweet grass baskets from South Carolina and more.

Throughout my years of weaving I have used various types of looms from the traditional loom of the Navajo, to the counterbalance loom of colonial days, to the modern jack loom, to the complex dobby loom of the contemporary era.  Currently I am using an 8-harness Gilmore jack loom and a 4-harness countermarch rug loom with shaft switching designed by Peter Collingwood.​

I buy commercially produced and dyed yarn from various suppliers and, from time to time, I dye my own yarn. I finish and press finer fabric using my mother’s mangle (vintage 1950).

In my studio I’m surrounded by history and wonderful color, texture, remembrances of travels, books from weavers of the past, and yarns waiting to be used in my work.