Always interested in the arts since a young child, Jennifer Bauer found that love really flourished when she moved to the mountains of Upper East Tennessee in the late 1970’s.  After completing her first college degree in Biology and Art, she went to work at Roan Mountain State Park as a Park Naturalist.   Here, she was blessed with the opportunity to learn from folks whose lives were spent making the necessities they needed to survive.

Especially enjoying the fiber arts, Jennifer focuses on weaving and natural dyeing. Wool yarn and fleece are dyed using native Appalachian plants, extracting colors that were popular with the 18th century colonist of this region. Using traditional techniques, she dyes the fibers over an open fire using old pots made of iron, copper, brass, and tin.  These beautiful colors are used to produce woven items on the Inkle loom, through finger weaving techniques, and on the 8 harness floor loom.

Also an author, Jennifer’s most recent titles are Wildlife, Wildflowers, and Wild Activities: Exploring Southern Appalachia and Roan Mountain: History of an Appalachian Treasure.
She and her husband, Bob Estep, present their work through Roan Mountain Primitives and are also available for demonstrations and educational programs.