Cherokee artist Jacqueline Rueff lives in a remote cabin in the Cherokee National Forest in the mountains of northeast Tennessee, and she has a true passion for creating. Rueff started her artistic journey as a sculptor, making a variety of art dolls and elaborate wall sculptures called Woodland Spirits. Over time, she decided she needed to find something else to feed her creative spirit, something that wouldn’t tax her body so much. On a whim, she took a three-hour course on broom making . . . and she fell in love.
Brooms have been her focus ever since: Heritage Art Appalachian Brooms. Each broom is handcrafted with her preferred materials: corn sorghum and twine, along with a stick or antlers for the handle. She said there are 70 different colors of twine to choose from! She especially loves finding interesting sticks to use for the handles, ones that will add character and interest. She enjoys searching the area around her home for interesting items to decorate her brooms and was quick to say she only uses things she finds on the ground. She said she respects Nature and her bounty.
Rueff uses a variety of items to enhance the beauty of each broom. She said she’s not much of a flower girl. Rather, she prefers using interesting rocks like quartz, jasper, or jade to decorate her brooms, some found, and some purchased. Quartz crystals are added to her brooms for purity, clarity, and healing energy to promote balance and harmony. She said jasper stones are added for protection, courage, and wisdom. When she includes dried flowers, they are always purchased.
She makes an assortment of broom styles: Turkey Whisk, Hawk Tail (a small 17-inch broom), Cobweb, Hourglass, Sweeper, Hearth (using naturally shed antlers), and Wedding Brooms. She has a dedicated broom-making area in her cabin and creates every day. The corn sorghum, which she buys in 50-pound bundles, is stored in her cabin; sticks are stored outdoors. Though she may find antlers in the forest, she most often purchases them from a supplier. She said the brooms with antlers are her favorite.
It takes three hours to make a typical whisk broom; some of the more involved shapes and brooms with handles, like the Cobweb or Hourglass, can take days. When the sorghum is soaked to create the different shapes, it has to dry for four days to prevent mold. Treating the handles takes another day. The wood has to be cleaned and sealed with polyurethane or coconut oil. Rueff said some buyers prefer the more natural finish that coconut oil provides. Making brooms is a labor-intensive process, but one Rueff truly enjoys.
All of her artwork is posted on social media, and most of her sales are online. She said people often see something they like and make requests for a broom based on what they see online. Rueff’s work has also been sold in galleries in North Carolina. Though the brooms are quite decorative, Rueff said she hopes people use them to sweep, too.
Rueff wants to impart the beauty of her surroundings in her work. She needs to create. “I see something in my mind, and I have to make it. It’s my life; it’s my passion,” she said.
https://jacquelineyvette1.wixsite.com/mountainlaurelclaycr | @jacquelinepatrick12
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Barbara Delaney is a wordsmith, avid sewer, and quilter who makes her home in Massachusetts.
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