 At
the tender age of ten, I helped make a hooked rug at camp. The
experience is still vivid for me. I remember the smell and texture
of the burlap, the brightly colored yarns and fabrics and especially
the worn old wooden tool we used for hooking. I was intrigued by the
mechanical motion of the tool and delighted by the perfect little
loops it produced. The finished project, created by many little
ten-year-old hands, was beautiful. I didn’t know it then, but that
experience was to have a profound impact on my art life. Many years
later, I remembered the little rug and thus began a new artistic
journey.I find great joy in richly colored
yarns, the texture of fabric and how these fibers are transformed by
the process of hooking.
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Tactility is critical to my work, which is meant to
be understood through touch as much as the visual aspects of color
and design. The sensory experience of texture is part of seeing my
work.I love the historical threads that
connect what I am doing today to the American pioneers of the early
19th century. Historians believe that traditional rug hooking is one
of just a few indigenous American crafts. The materials and designs
in my work might raise a few old New Englander eye brows, but it
feels good to be using techniques that are rooted in the history of
this country. The early rugs were utilitarian, used on beds to keep
people warm during the harsh winters, but I also like to imagine
that the women who hooked hundreds of years ago share my love of
color, texture, design and the beauty of all those perfect little
loops.
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