Hooked rugs

I started hooking in 2006. And now I am eager for the winter months, which is when the gardens are closed up and I spend time working on my rugs.

I like a lot of things about rug hooking. I like the practical aspect of what I do: I am making things that can be used to warm up a floor or be a table runner, for instance. I like how slow the process is: I am forced to slow down as I cut the strips of wool and pull each one through the backing. As a result I think the rugs are very different from the way I might paint or draw the same images. I like the surprises that come when a shape gets smushed and rearranged by the loops next to them, rounding and flattening edges and corners. I like playing with color.

Paintings

I used to say that with my hooked rugs I was “painting with wool.” But hooking is a slow process and I was eager to experiment with colors in a faster way. So instead of forcing the hooked-rug medium to be like painting, I just decided to paint. Some of the images are similar to ones I pursue in my rugs, but many are quite different. And none have borders or a feeling of “rugness.”

Rustic furniture

The first rustic pieces I made were fences and outside benches. From there I started making trellises and arbors. And then I collected and dried wood for interior pieces.

I like the conversation I have between the twigs — what nature offers, and my intention for a piece — for instance, a chair. Rather than milling a piece of wood to make it useable for a purpose, I have to pay attention to the knots and twists in the wood as I find it. As a result, each piece is different, and, needless to say, organic.

I’ve been making tall chairs. This started as I wondered how tall I could get with a ladderback chair. These tall chairs are like the saplings I use, many of which are stretching tall in the woods, straining for sunlight.

I’ve also been intrigued by making multi-legged tables, emulating tree trunks in a woods. I was curious, so tried my first table, which I found to be very difficult to level (four legs are difficult enough). Nonetheless, I like the look and the relationships between the legs and branches, so I keep returning to making tables with lots of legs.