Soon after being born in Yonkers NY in 1963, Lori Schafer relocated to farm country in Upstate New York while still in diapers.

Surrounded by a menagerie of farm animals, her love of them continued to grow and eventually found this love running alongside her love of creating art. A few decades later she founded WalkingWool™Studio — a name chosen because her love of sheep transcended all other animals, save for dogs. She spends the majority of her time making photographic portraits, spinning and dyeing wool, and creating wearable objects  — including beaded jewelry and fiber art — that celebrate the unique qualities of the “raw stuff.”

A longtime artist, Lori Schafer has worked at iconic NYC art museums and galleries. She is a dedicated vegetarian, and spent many years creatively absorbed with the fruits of her existence. A multiyear series of large scale vegetable drawings were inspired by her involvement with CSA farms. A juried competition sponsored by The Fitchburg Art Museum culminated in having those works displayed in the museum for three months. She has been selected over three decades to exhibit throughout the Northeast United States.

Lori received her BA Cum Laude in Fine Art and German from St. Lawrence University, and studied art history at CUNY Grad School for several years. She has also lived and travelled abroad extensively. She currently resides in Rockland ME with her husband Jeffrey Wolff, an artist and award-winning writer.

Statement

My approach with nature is up close and personal, be it animal, vegetable or mineral. It would not be possible for me to get too near my subjects. I even take home pieces of their existence to handle, transform, and celebrate.  I visit farms and festivals, and harvest wild and cultivated plant materials for my dye pots. I spin natural fibers from diverse breeds of sheep, goats, camelids and even dogs on my Louet S10 spinning wheel. I draw, photograph, sculpt, spin, knit, felt, bead . . . always keeping my eye and hand and heart open to what moves me.