Profile:  Laura Smith

I enjoy teaching classes that relate to color, realistic landscapes, counted thread designs, and mixed media work.  My first EGA Group Correspondence Course will debut in September 2010.  Two more  courses are coming soon.  

Taught to stitch by my grandmother at the age of nine, my early work was huck embroidery, counted cross stitch, hardanger, crochet, and beading.  In the early 1980's, I discovered the Embroiderers' Guild of America, Inc (EGA) and the American Needlepoint Guild (ANG).  Silk and metal thread embroidery, needlepoint, open canvaswork, Casalguidi embroidery, quilting and other classes followed.  My first teaching experience was a hardanger embroidery class in 1987.  In 1999, I took Mary Shipp's ANG Cybercourse on Color for Embroidery and began a journey into color and design for needlework which continues today. 

I earned the Master Craftsman in Color from EGA in 2005 and currently serve as Chairman of the Color Program.  I juried into Fiber Forum in 2006 and again in 2009.  I'm a Life Member of EGA, past president, newsletter editor and VP Programs for Golden Needles Chapter in Concord, NC.  I serve as bylaws chairman for Lake Norman Chapter of the American Needlepoint Guild for which I was founding president.  Working as a volunteer leader in numerous capacities for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, I developed an interest in landscape embroidery through hiking and outdoor Scouting activities.   

I have worked in technical sales and visual arts management and hold an MBA and an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.