Rug Hooking Art

Hello! According to Wikipedia, rug hooking in the US got its start as a means for poorer families to have nice flooring at a time when machine-woven carpets became available (after 1830)to wealthier families. 

However, from thus humble beginning, a truly beautiful art form has emerged. I visited the "Tomorrow's Heirlooms Rug School" show yesterday in Holland, MI to see the creations on display. 

I viewed a wide variety of rug hooking styles, ranging from very fine pieces that would rival the detail of a fine Oriental rug to more primitive looks. (The more narrow the wool strips used, the finer the detail, and vice versa.) Colors could be muted, day-glo bright, or anything in between.

My preference ran toward the brighter designs and strips that were in between the spectrum of narrow versus wide. Thus, that's what I'll be showing off here, but this isn't meant to be a slight toward any of the talented rug hookers whose works I viewed. All were marvelous works of art!

I liked this pattern. 

Loved the colors in this rug. 

A close-up:

Sweet!

Nice colors on this piece as well.

Meow! Cute cat next to what I think was an ottoman covered with a hooked design.

Happy campers. 

A close-up:

A rug-hooking club displayed a project in which each letter of the alphabet was represented on a rug-hooked square. I took pics of a couple of the letters:

Doesn't look quite like a blue jay, but the creator was correct; that bird does "jabber all the day". 

And of course, "R is for Rug hooking, which we all love". 

I thought this rug resembled an Impressionist painting. 

Its close-up:

Beautiful shading!

My one exception to the more brightly-rendered designs:

I liked the sentiment stated in this piece: "Remember them when they cannot remember", presumably in honor of a loved one with an age-related memory loss. 

All in all, a very nice show that displayed a very nice art form. If I didn't have so many hobbies and so many partially-completed projects already, I'd consider doing it myself!