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SLUMBER
Celebrations 2011 Original Design Winner
When people ask me what I do, I often stumble a bit
before answering. Simply
calling myself a rug hooker doesn't seem to fit anymore, (I am not
convinced it ever did),
besides most people still associate rug hooking with the shag rugs made
in hobby class when they were children.
I have been called a textile artist, fibre artist, artisan, and
to some extent, I am all these things.
I identify myself as a fine craft artist that uses rug hooking as
an art medium.
After many years of working as a fashion designer, I
felt a change was needed.
During a weekend trip to
Intrigued by the hand hooked rugs found in the
museums collection, I set out to learn everything I could find on their
history and how they were made.
What started out
as a simple
research project quickly grew into a career that I never would have
imagined.
Armed with an old latch hook generously donated by
my mother in law and some left over cashmere fabric from a coat project,
I started experimenting with different techniques and materials
transforming my ideas into rugs.
During those early experiments, I discovered that there was
something very soothing and magical
happening every time the wool transformed itself into a loop.
The slow and labor intensive nature of this technique quickly
gave voice to my imagination and unleashed the creative energy I had
hidden for so many years.
For the past five years I have approached each new
project with a contemporary voice with imagery that expresses the
importance of valuing our own experiences and crafting work that honors
both life and place. I
achieve my palettes by dyeing 100% wool and cashmere fabrics using
natural and synthetic dyes.
With the help of my old
dressmakers scissors given to me by my first boss, the woollen fabric is
hand cut into strips 1/8”, ¼” or 3/8”, then hand hooked using the same
latch hook my mother in law gave me, onto a 100% linen canvas.
My goal for the work, is that once completed, it
becomes an intimate of both audience and artist with images that express
simple truths that evoke feeling, provoke memories and even transport
the viewer to a time of innocence.
Inviting the viewer to linger over the unanswered questions it
provokes, with hopes that the tension stays with them after they have
stepped away.
