About the artist
Making rugs is more than a hobby for me. I find it is a means of self-expression. I believe rugs have limitless potential as an art form. Every new rug involves the use of different artistic elements and I am happy to share my experience with others. A hooked rug can be flat and two-dimensional, or it can be three-dimensional and sculpted. My favorite style of rug hooking is a fine cut (#2 and #3) with sculpting. But I enjoy all the other styles. I most enjoy making bags that match clothes.
I began rug hooking in 2008. I have made more than 180 pieces and six of my rugs have been featured in the “Celebration of Hand-Hooked Rugs” magazine. My article about making ponchos using the rug hooking technique is published in Rug Hooking Magazine in the fall issue of 2018. An article about Chinese New Year animals is published in Rug Hooking Magazine in the winter issue of 2020. The article “Simple Geometric” is published in the winter issue of 2021. 16 of my pieces are featured in Janet Conner’s book “Magnificent Hooked Rugs”. I am a certified teacher of the Ontario Hooking Craft Guild and I belong to the rug hooking group “Rugs on the Rocks” in Sudbury, Ontario. (www.rugsontherocks.ca) . I taught at Ontario Annual Conference and Sauder Village Rug Hooking Week. In 2019, I was selected as an artist in Rug Hooking Week's Feature Exhibit - Hooked on Dimension, where a collection of my ponchos was featured.
I have been named the Hooked Rug Museum of North America's 2023 Canadian Artist of the Year!
Our group is composed of several incredibly talented people with a wealth of knowledge, raw beginners, and everything in between. We share information and technique, and we learn from each other in a non-judgmental and fun environment.
Rug hooking is not simply about covering floors. Rug hooking is much more than that. Creativity, individuality, beauty, colour, artistry, tactile stimulation, recycling, practicality, and historical tradition come together in a hooked rug.
Hooked rugs are truly priceless because so much of the lives of their makers go into them. Life is inherent not just in the strips torn from clothing worn by family and friends, but also in the memories these fabrics evoke.