Local Color Gallery welcomes fiber artist Sarah Leighton as the gallery's guest artist from April 21-May 17. Leighton will speak about her work at this month’s Fourth Friday Gallery Night, which runs from 4 to 7 p.m., April 25. The talk will begin at 5 p.m.

Leighton grew up in Midcoast Maine where her French-Canadian grandmother, or “memere,” was an avid rug hooker, particularly during Maine’s long, cold winters. In 2014, her grandmother passed away and Leighton decided to honor her grandmother’s memory by taking a rug hooking class. She was – pun intended – hooked. She started slowly, doing one project a year in a traditional or primitive style using only wool strips.

According to a Local Color news release, Leighton’s style and technique have changed as she's grown more comfortable with the craft. She began incorporating more materials. Her art now covers primitive, contemporary, and abstract styles. While the primitive pieces only use wool cloth strips, her contemporary and abstract pieces use a variety of materials including yarn, sari ribbon, and velvet.

One of her biggest regrets is not learning how to hook from her grandmother. Today, she only hooks with her grandmother’s hook and thinks about her “memere” often.

In 2021, Leighton was awarded the Springboard Artist Grant from the Maine Arts Commission.

She lives in Belfast with her husband, Ryan, and yellow lab, Nixie. When she is not hooking rugs, she works for an environmental nonprofit and volunteers raising money for IgA Nephropathy research. See www.leightonfiberart.com.

Local Color Gallery is located at 135 High Street in Belfast. April hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 11 to 4. For more information see localcolorgallerymaine.org or call 207-218-1249.