Pine and Knoll-an artist’s dream comes true
The Wisconsin Driftless Area is known as a mecca for artists. With many markets held throughout, the amount of original art you can find almost seems endless. For Lynda Fuller who lives just outside of Mineral Point, Wisconsin, producing her art has been a lifelong dream.
Fuller is the owner and artist behind Pine and Knoll laser cut wood, gifts and décor. she creates 3-dimensional wood burned scenes that at times, seem to pay homage to the Driftless itself.
Her drive to create began at a young age and was influenced by her mother. “I started creating things when I was nine years old. I started with yarn, crocheting and knitting. That's because of my mom. My mom passed away in 2022, she was 96. It's basically because of her that I got into making things. She would order Afghan kits and stuff, and crochet after work,” Fuller said her mother would give away what she made to family and friends, not asking for a dime. Fuller watched and learned from her mother, and at one point, her mother enrolled her in a sewing class, but she quickly found that sewing was not her forte. “So, I experimented and experimented, and I've always loved wood, I guess. That's where I found my creative outlet.”
Over the years, Fuller found what she was creating wasn’t fulfilling enough for her. She felt there was something more out there she could create, but wasn’t sure exactly what. That would change in November of 2021. “I saw a commercial on TV for a Glowforge and I was like, wow, that's really cool. It advertised it could cut paper, cork, clothing, wood, anything you could imagine. So, I bought one.” She pointed out the Glowforge cuts out multiple layers, and when put together, create a 3-d effect.
Fuller set out to look at different designs that had been created on the web. She found a “real cool bear”, and wanted to try making it. Fuller admitted there was a bit of a learning curve in using her new tool. “You have to have certain programs to make things. They're called SVGs, scalable vector graphics. I bought the bear design SVG from the guy who had designed it. I looked at it and I thought I couldn't do this. But I taught myself to do it.”
When Fuller comes up with an idea, she designs each layer individually, then sends the digital project file to the Glowforge interface (computer system) in Washington D.C., where the company creates an SVG of her design and sends it back to her. After loading the file to her laser cutter, the machine goes to work cutting out each of the layers. “The precision of the laser cutting is impressive. It just fascinates me. I couldn't believe I send it to a machine, and the machine would cut out what I create. I eventually started designing my own projects from there. After a while I thought, wonder if I could sell these?”
I would be remiss not to mention her family, husband Tom, two daughters and a son, that are very supportive of her artwork venture. One of her daughters is an art teacher in LaFarge. “I kind of passed on my talent to her. She helps me with colors and stuff, and suggests designs. So, we kind of help each other.”
Fuller eventually started selling her woodworks. “I was gonna first sell at a craft store in Mineral Point, and my husband said, ‘Why don't you try Crazy Frank’s Flea Market?’ My daughter (the art teacher) and my son in law, they have been going to Crazy Frank's forever. They deal in vintage stuff. So, I thought Crazy Frank’s just sold antiques and vintage stuff, there's no place for me there. So, I went in to the Crazy Frank’s in Mineral Point. I walked in, and I'm like, wow. I looked around, there was handmade stuff there. So, I talked to Miles the owner’s son, filled out the application, and he said, ‘Yeah, I think your stuff would do really well here’. I said ‘okay, I'll give it a try and we'll see what happens’. It just took off from there.” Fuller said, just before Father’s Day this year, her entire inventory sold. “I thought, that's good. It's very gratifying and heartwarming when you can design something, and somebody looks at it, and they say, ‘Hey, I want that’. You're like, wow, somebody actually wants to buy my artwork!”
Since she started selling at Crazy Frank’s, Fuller said people message her through her Facebook page asking if she could create custom wood art for them after seeing her booth. “I'm like, ‘Yeah, what would you like to see? I'd be happy to do that for you’. Yesterday, I just dropped off a basket for a fundraiser for a father of two girls, who was killed in a motorcycle accident. I'm more than happy to do stuff like that to help people raise money. Over the summer, I donated to two veteran fundraisers. I made baskets and donated them. I'm all about helping out.” Fuller shared that her father was a World War II veteran, and her grandfather had served in World War I. “Anything I can do for veterans, I'm more than happy to.”
Fuller shared a favorite piece of hers she had laying out on a table. It was the silhouette of a buck, and inside, is a dimensional scene of a hunter stalking a deer. “Yep, that is my favorite, I believe that one has six layers. It's all made out of Baltic Birch.” With such minute detail in the scene, she said the laser cutting is so precise and clean, it makes everything stand out so well and allows for amazing little details.
Back when Fuller started crocheting and knitting, she recalled, “I would look at a ball of yarn when I was knitting, and it was amazing to see how you could take this ball of yarn and knit it into a sweater. Now, I design something in a program on the computer, put a sheet of wood in the Glowforge, it cuts all the layers out, I put it together and turn it into artwork.”
Fuller plans to open another booth at one of the Crazy Frank’s locations in Readstown, Wisconsin soon, and pointed out that she sells some of her designs in her Etsy store. “I also attend a couple of craft shows a year, but Crazy Frank's keeps me busy. I just hope to keep making people happy with my artwork, and like I said, it's just thrilling to know people like my work and appreciate my talent,” she said smiling.
Visit Pine and Knoll on Facebook or on Etsy.
Click to read our article from March 2020 about Crazy Frank’s.
