Gallery: Kids At Play

In the spring of 2014, three rug hookers, independent of one another, told me I should design a goat rug. And so I did! In this rug, Kids At Play, each goat represents them and their favorite flowers...trillium, hydrangea and the heavenly-scented sweet pea. I love how happy these goats are! It truly is a good day to be a kid!

For me, what is even better than designing a rug, is to get to see other rug hookers interpretation of my design. Below are photos of the beautiful rugs made by them. It is really inspiring to see how they make the design their own, whether through subtle color changes, or a totally different color plan. It is also interesting how some chose to make it more primitive or add more detail. One of the rugs, is an adaptation I made for a friend. Her sister had been gifted two goats to be companions for her lone horse. I love their names and this story! We adapted the rug's name too and called it, Boys At Play!

The rug hooking artists are in alphabetical order and the rug gallery that follows, reflects that order starting with Marie Beers, Kathy Burton, Joan Humen, Cathy Lanning, Maureen Lowrey, Lilly McIntyre, Patty Rogers (the adaptation) and Lois Sutton. Thank you Ladies! Beautiful Work! Seeing all of these cute goats makes me want to run out to a county fair to pet some kids! BTW, all three rug hookers who inspired this design, have a hooked rug included in this gallery.

Please visit my ETSY shop to see Kids At Play or other patterns and hooking related items.

 

Safe Haven

Finally, the story of the grey fox gets to be told.

As with all stories, a bit of folklore and mystery gets wrapped around the retelling.

Remember, I was raised on a small farm, where a small mountain top, rolls into forestland, which rolls into meadows, and finally the farm. I adore all things wild, roaming and free. I have been on a fox kick for a couple years now. In February of 2015, I blogged about an uncanny experience that I had while hooking my first fox pattern Cozy Fox, visit my blog post HERE to reread.

This grey fox pattern, Safe Haven, is an indirect result of that Blog Post. A dear friend of mine, who has lived out in the country for over 20 years, had a mystical encounter after reading my blog about the fox. She was traveling home, after in-town errands, in the late afternoon. She saw a pair of eyes bounce off her headlight beams. It was still late winter, so the sun was low in the sky, that time of year when dusk comes too early. As her car approached the animal that had been in the middle of the road, skirted off to the side. It had an elongated body shape and a big bushy tail. It's silhouette suggested fox, and then it did something unexpected. It climbed up into a nearby tree to hide. She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her! Isn't that crazy! Who knew foxes could climb trees? Apparently, grey foxes can!

It's true, they can! Grey Foxes, are a carnivorous mammal in the Canidae family, and the only American canid that has the ability to climb trees. At one online site, I read that they can climb branchless, vertical trunks to heights of 18 meters! They sometimes make their dens up in the tree canopy, within old snags, or on the ground in areas of heavy brush and undergrowth.

So I suppose you are still waiting for the punchline. Well, it isn't really all that exciting. I just thought it was so fascinating that in all the years that she had lived in the country, she had never seen a grey fox until after reading about my fox experiences, and now she had her own fox story to tell.

For me, it is a true blessing to be able to interpret my experiences through my art. When my friend told me of her grey fox encounter, I immediately imagined some version of this rug, Safe Haven. I wanted the background to be dark, to make it feel cozy and safe. The rug measures approx. 19"x 23". The narrow border has simple scrolls that are suppose to suggest ferns and the way the tips unfurl in early spring. A wreath of brambles and wildflowers protectively wrap around his hiding place.

I like that this fox looks content and peaceful. He doesn't have to worry about being secretive or scrambling up into a tree for safety. Rather, within his den he's found his own little piece of paradise, his Safe Haven.

Please visit my ETSY shop to see this pattern and other hooking related items.

 

Birds of a Feather

Spring seems like the perfect time to reflect on using bird motifs in your rugs.

After all, here in Oregon, the swallows and buzzards have returned quite awhile ago. Now, when you step outdoors the flurry of songbirds singing and flying about, certainly catch your attention!

I have hooked many birds into my rugs from swans and geese, roosters and chickens to ravens and crows. Along with quails, hummingbirds, swallows and songbirds and more. Heck, I have even hooked a peacock!

Above Photo: Sanctuary: Raven or Crow peering from tree

Above Photo: Intrepid Souls: Hummingbird searching for blossoms

I like how adding a bird to a rug can add interest and charm. It can be part of the composition or a focal point. Many of my rugs tell stories. In River & Raven's Roost, (topmost photo) it was the raspy call of the raven that inspired part of this rug. In Dove's Song, it was a mourning dove's meditative cooing that mesmerized me as I stood in my garden. In Rose Wreath, (photo below) the flowers are the focal point, but the birds hidden within the wreath add a lot of sweetness to the piece.

Whether you design your own rugs, or purchase rugs made by other designers, consider hooking a rug with a bird motif in it. I am sure you will enjoy the process and love the outcome!

Please visit my ETSY shop and view my patterns, there are more patterns of mine with birds, too many to post.

Administrative FYI:Beginning in May and thoughout the summer months, I will be blogging only once a month. With the onset of warmer weather I will be outside doing more gardening, trips to the coast, and family visits. I do hope to get some hooking done too. I will keep you posted! Thank you, marijo

 

Flying Flying Fox

This design, Flying Flying Fox, was inspired by an antique hooked rug's background that I admired. I loved the way the background colors flowed using a tight range of values, in warm and cool colors. This is not a case where you put all the wool strips in a bag, to then pull out any ole color and use in any area you are working on. I was surprised at how much thinking and scrutinizing went into the placement of each strip to create this unique look. Again, it was a good reminder, that primitive hooking does NOT mean simpler hooking, far from it!

I'm currently reexploring, my fox phase! I hooked my first fox rug, Cozy Fox, in the spring of 2014. When I blogged about that rug in the spring of 2015, a friend then told me of an amazing experience that she had with a gray fox, (I will blog about that soon with a rug to match). As I was designing that more folk-art style gray fox rug, I asked myself, why don't I design a more traditional primitive rug also, since I adore that style too, and so primitive Flying Flying Fox design was born.

I love this happy little self-assured fox. There is just enough color and texture differentiation in him to add interest to his "black" silhouette. The antique blacks are in the blue-black, purple and brown range of color, which perfectly compliment the warm-orangey background colors!

The background is hooked in light to medium colors of warm peach, tan, tawny and camel tones. The interest is added with the usage of cooler similar value grays that lean toward blues and mellow soft purples. I had to use a lot of different wools, and different directional hooking techniques so it would be interesting and not just a "blob" of color. I definitely want to explore this technique further. I was humbled by how tricky it was to achieve this "aged" look.

The suggestion of the flowers, or dandelions gone-to-seed are intended to fade into the background. It was a fun experiment to use a neutral light wool for the flowers, whereas normally, I use all sorts of color and values to define a flower from the background. A narrow strip of a slightly brighter color, is randomly "tunneled" around the edge of the flowers to softly define them.

As you know, I usually bind my rugs with a crocheted edge. This time, I wanted the binding to look rustic. So,I bound this design with 1/2" torn strips wrapped around cotton cording.

This carefree, bounding fox is soaring through a field of dandelions gone-to-seed. As he passes, the little white "parachutes" are sure to go flying, flying in all directions! I like to think he is inviting you to happily join him, to make a wish, and blow!

Please visit my ETSY shop to see Flying Flying Fox and other hooking related items.

 

Travel Postcard: A Dove in Flight

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words!

A Dove in Flight was a rug I finished hooking this past January and blogged about in-length, in a post on January 27, 2016.

Earlier this month I was fortunate enough to see the "dove rug" in it's new home!

Currently it is on the floor, though it might be mounted later as a wall hanging.

Picture Perfect!

 

New Lease on Life

I am a consummate thrifter! I come from a long line of folks who value the idea of the reuse, recycle mentality. That can be anything from simply reusing your plastic lunch bags, to the finer art of veering off the beaten path to stop at garage sales and thrift shops to find and appreciate items from days gone by.

So, it should be of no surprise that when I saw this DiFranza Rug Hooking Kit at one of my local antique and collectible shops, I could not pass it by. It did not matter, that it had wool strips that were probably a very narrow cut (3) which I had no intention of using, though the wool was in excellent condition! It did not matter that the pattern was printed on burlap, which I personally would never hook on, due to longevity issues. It did not matter that the little hooks were so small, probably a "fine", that I could barely see the bend on the ends. What did matter, was that "someone" had bought this kit, with the full intention and dream of hooking it into a lovely mat, and that intention needed to be honored!

Within a month's time of purchasing the kit, I had a Hook-In, where I would attend as a vendor. Nobody there seemed interested in the kit, however, the Region 11 president of ATHA (Association of Traditional Rug Hooking Artists) was there, and suggested I might donate the kit to their scholarship program. That was an excellent suggestion! Everyone wins!

The kit would go to someone who wants to hook it and would value the whole kit and caboodle! The ATHA organization would benefit, and as I understand it, their scholarship for this particular camp was not on a need basis, but on a basis of someone applying because they want to further their rug hooking education and ability. Finally, I won because this kit assembled long ago and purchase by a hooker with a dream would finally be going to a good home!

I sure hope I get a chance to see this kit completed at some future Hook-In. Now that would be a dream come true!

 

Spring Renewal

It is officially spring!

The days are getting longer, the wet spring days do give way to sunny ones. The beautiful flowering trees have chirping birds flying from branch to branch. The first wave of early spring bulbs like daffodils and crocus are giving way to tulips, hyacinths, muscari and iris.

I find myself wondering about all the new babies born or hatched in this season like, kittens, lambs, bunnies, and birds. Yay for Nature!

I hope you are feeling renewed, inspired and creative in this season of rebirth!

Happy Spring!