Judy Yunker, Martin, KY

Three Pointe Studio

wood jewelry

Sister Judy Yunker, OSB, was born in Evansville, IN. After joining a monastery in 1958, she taught school and served as a missionary in Guatemala and Peru. She is now Prioress at Dwelling Place Monastery in Martin, KY.

Sr. Judy began woodcarving in 1999 and was mentored by Roy May. She teaches woodcarving at John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC.

Her current passion is her wearable art including necklaces, bracelets, and earrings made of exotic woods from across the globe. Judy says: “Beauty is needed in every part of our life. Working with wood I get a chance to be part of it. Most of my jewelry is made from scraps of other carvers’ work. My scraps are shavings and I use them to burnish my turnings and then burn them in the wood stove that heats my studio.”

Sr. Judy’s work can be found at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea, Berea, KY: The Cozy Corner, Whitesburg, KY; David Appalachian Crafts, David, KY; Country Music Highway Museum, Paintsville, KY; Kentucky Appalachian Artisan Center in Hindman, and Appalachian League of Artists, Art Gallery, Ramada Inn, Paintsville, KY; Friends Book Cellar, Lexington, KY.