Heidi Hooper

After starting out as a metal sculptor, and then through dozens of operations and radiation treatments for cancer, now with this new permanent handicap, Heidi Hooper knew her days as a metal sculptor were over. She had received her Sculpture degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and had done Master’s work at UCLA in Long Beach and the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston (where she also taught for some time). Her work had been seen in galleries around the country and her artistic metal armor pieces had won her many costuming awards, including at Science Fiction’s biggest convention, Worldcon.

She later tried sculpting in soft clays, making dolls of friends and famous people. This attracted coverage in some doll magazines and even got Peter Falk’s attention, who bought the one she had made of his character from “The Princess Bride.” Creating this artwork brought Heidi too much pain to accomplish on a regular basis.

Then she discovered dryer lint. An unusual medium to create with, for sure, but the artist within Heidi saw something worth trying to create something with it. The first work was quite primitive, but she persisted and taught herself how to make each piece more intricate than the previous. Galleries started to take notice, and it wasn’t long before Ripley’s Believe it or Not found her, featured her in one of their books, and bought her work to show in their museums around the world.

Her fame grew, and as the work got larger and more complicated, serious art collectors started buying her work. Consumer Reports did a side piece on her work (next to an article about dryers, of course) and called her “the Andy Warhol of dryer lint.” So, she did a very large piece featuring Warhol which won her the prestigious Niche Award in 2014. This led to a series honoring famous artists as well as a second Niche Award in 2017 for “Magritte in Dryer Lint.”

Her unusual work has gotten attention from HGTV, 50 Amazing Facts, Artsy Shark Magazine, Modern Rogue, and The Circle magazine.

In 2018, the ABC TV show “To Tell the Truth” flew Heidi out to Hollywood, where she appeared on one of their episodes where the guests (including Mel Brooks) had to guess which one was the real dryer lint artist. 60 Second Docs did a one-minute documentary on her in 2019.

In 2021, she received the Courage Award from the American Cancer Society and was honored to be one of only 100 artists chosen from across Pennsylvania to show in the State Museum of Pennsylvania. She was also profiled on American Spark. Later that year, she appeared on Access Hollywood, where she was hired to do a dryer lint portrait of host Mario Lopez.

In 2022 Heidi was pleased to once again be accepted to the State Museum of Pennsylvania.

Heidi says she could not have done so much if it wasn’t for fans saving their more colorful lint and sending it to her. She thanks them each year with a free calendar of her artwork.

She and her husband live in the beautiful Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. They enjoy hearing the pitter patter of little feet around the house (they have four cats).

See all of Heidi’s work on her website.