Style/Techniques:
This rug is fine shaded in a #3 cut using realistic colors. I hooked the artist’s design faithfully except exchanging a fly on the rock for a maidenhair fern, imitating Grant Wood’s style.
About the Rug:
I was drawn to this lithograph because it depicts some of the same wildflowers found in my childhood home at the top of Cape Cod. It is the first rug I learned to fine shade in a class with Nancy Blood at GMRS.
I first learned about Green Mountain Rug School by attending a rug show there. I saw the room size rug named “Game Preserve”. It is the 1994 readers’ choice from Rug Hooking Magazine, designed by Edith Dana and adapted and hooked by Cheryl Orcutt. I was amazed! As an illustrator; to see a painting in WOOL for use in the home, was a revelation.
The same show featured a huge variety of hooked designs from classic florals to bright, playful bugs. I was surprised at the range of images created from simple woolen strips. Needless to say, the experience led me to classes at GMRS and to Nancy.
Abut the Artist:
My mother braided rugs and she and the neighboring women knitted or embroidered, braided or hooked and many sewed and quilted. I grew up with fabric and needlework and I view its uses as part of women’s culture.
For many 100s of years, wool has been used for in and outdoor clothing, bedding, rugs, decor and a thousand other items used daily. Today, it is becoming a precious resource.
With the range of color and texture still available; whether it is found, repurposed, off the bolt, hand dyed or even felted, who can resist turning it into a beautiful object and an expression of our lives.