Born in Pittsburgh, Joi Cardinal moved to Los Angeles with her mom at age nine after her father died. “My older sister was living there,” she explains. “I grew up in L.A. from 1970 on. I was a science geek but didn’t pass Chem 1 at Cal State Northridge, so I switched to English and Women’s Studies. In my first year of college I married a guy named Ruff to get away from mom. We were married for six months. I paid for years three to five of college by grading exams for profs.”
After college, Cardinal had a 15-year career in medical transcription. “It was the best job, perfect for me,” she says. She met and married Stephen Miller, who is neurodivergent and also found work in medical transcription. “We followed the Grateful Dead for 15 years, 27 shows in California. But we had two children with health problems that impoverished us. Kay’s hip cost $100K, and Dylan, a 27-week preemie, cost a quarter-million. We chipped away at the bills — they’re paid off now.”
In the 1990s, the family moved to Northern California so that daughter Kay could attend Waldorf School. “I learned fiber craft from other parents,” Cardinal relates. “It became my thing.” And in 2001 they relocated to Eugene. “I have a sister up here, and rent is cheaper.” The family was living in a weekly-rent motel in 2006, when Cardinal suffered a massive stroke. “A thunderclap headache, unimaginably painful,” she continues. “Sacred Heart discharged me to the street without telling my partner. I begged a woman to call him, and we squatted in the Overpark Garage for a week. Social workers arranged my surgery at OHSU — 27 holes in my brain to repair aneurysms.”
After several changes of address, the couple now has affordable and stable housing. “Two years ago, I met Julie Bowman from the Whiteaker Community Council, who helped me do my first felting workshop,” Cardinal says. “I made a felted stone paperweight for my talent act in this year’s SLUG queen competition. My intent was to tell stories of remarkable women while felting. I got as far as Sylvia Plastercaster, who casted 77 rockstar penises, before I ran out of time.” Cardinal’s craftwork can be viewed on her website: CardinalBirds.cardinalbirds.org.