Gallery

The pieces of work show how contemporary designers, some of whom are amateurs, use scraps of material and even discarded packaging to make rugs and wallhangings. These examples have been chosen to convey the diversity of artistic expression that can be achieved in this medium. Examples of hand-hooked rugs made earlier this century are also featured and they serve to illustrated how the homely craft of rag rug making has developed into a recognized textile art form, offering virtually limitless opportunities for experimentation. Once you have mastered the simple basic techniques, you will hopefully feel inspired to begin creating designs that reflect your own ideas.

Partridge in a Pear Tree

Ann Davies

79 x 56 cm ( 31 x 22 inc )

This festive wallhanging was hooked with predominantly woollen fabrics, with details, for example the partridge's plummage, highlighted in lurex. Aran kniting wool was used to hook the light background.

Sun Ray

Lizzie Reakes

50 x 50 cm ( 20 x 20 inc )

Strong, vibrant colours and the use of bold symbols, such as arrows and stars, in abstract geometrical design are the hallmarks of Lizzie's creation. She works specifically with recycled material, and finds that the incorporation of material such plastics and foil packaging produces very durable rugs. The materials are also very tightly hooked creating a dense, textured finish.

Big Apple

Joan Moshimer

65 x 108 cm ( 25.5 x 42.5 inc )

Designed and made by one of America's foremost rug hookera, this unusual semi-circular pice is very finely hooked with purpuso-dyed materials and finished with a tweed border. The painterly design features fruit, flowers and insect.

La Mer

Lynne Stein

128 x 126 cm ( 50.5 x 4905 inc )

Hand-tufted and hooked using new and recycled materials and yarns, including silk, this richly textured and highly detailed figurative design could be mistaken, at first glance, for a piece of heavily worked embroidery.

Greenstar

Lizzie Reakes

About 74 cm (29 Inc ) diameter

The designer of this hand-hooked wallhanging or rug finds star shapes a particular source of inspiration. Plastics and foils are included in the multi-coloured materials used to create the random patterns which fill the star points.

Angel With Six Stars

Winifred Pratt

76 x 56 cm ( 30 x 22 inc )

Although quite simple in outline and colouring, this design is nevertheless extremely striking and is unusual in that it incorporates lettering as a border feature; hand-hooked with wool and synthetic materials.

Baltimore Beauty

Ann Davies

104 x 107 cm ( 41 x 42 inc )

Based on stylized floral motifs taken from a North American patchwork design, this large rug was hooked in the traditional way. An old blanket was dipped in weak tea to give an antique linen look to the creamy background.

Stained Glass Flowers

Ann Davies

91 cm (36 inc) in diameter

A book of stained glass designs provided the inspiration for this hooked circular wallhanging. Only woolen materials were used, with black wool simulating the lead used in windows.

Mexicano Mat

Lynne Stein

About 119 x 114 cm ( 47 x 45 inc )

Rags, fibres and metallic fabrics are incorporated in this hand-hooked rug, commissioned to enhance a range of interior designer wallcoverings by Timmey-Fowler. The vibrant clashing colours express the vitality of Latin America.

Lava Flow

Ann Davies

79 x 56 cm ( 31 x 22 inc )

In this traditionally hooked wallhanging the force of the lava flow is emphasized by the asymmetrical design executed in wide range of materials of different weights such as heavy coating and organza.

The Frith

Christine Ellis

About 183 x 61 cm ( 72 x 24 inc )

The window frame used in this locker-needle hooked picture cerates the illusion that the muted colours of the autumnal landscape are seen through glass. Other subjects-for example, a seascape-could be treated in the same way equally successfully.

Set-of-Three

Unknown Maker

150 x 94 cm (59 x 37 inc )

91 x 86 cm ( 36 x 34 inc )

91 x 43 cm ( 36 x 17 inc )

Old examples of matching rug sets are extremely rare. These three rugs, of varyng sizes, all feature the same stylized daisy motif and colour treatment. They are thought to date to the 1930s, and were handhooked using tweed and other woolen materials.

Mock Oriental

Unknown Maker

135 x 94 cm ( 53 x 37 inc )

Made around 1910, a simplified oriental carpet design was probably the inspiration for this hand-hooked rug, which incorporates a varity of materials, including wool and jersey.