I would like to share a story prompted by an email from a customer who sent us a picture of her hooked footstool top. Clearly, in the picture to the left, this is a scene of Lunenburg, NS with its iconic red harbourfront buildings, as recognizable as Elvis.
The customer adapted the pattern into a stool cover by squaring off the top curve. Instead of the traditional red buildings of Lunenburg she vamped the design by selecting other colours, bringing a whole new feel to the pattern. Suddenly it had international appeal, represented any fishing village along the eastern seaboard, a quaint harbour in Newfoundland, a small inlet of Nova Scotia, a coastal scene from Maine, many countries in the world could boast such a lovely harbour.
Hooking is like baking, give the same recipe to 10 people and every dish will have a different flavour. Thank goodness as this makes our world a more interesting place. The same is true with rug hooking. A pattern given to 10 rug hookers will tell 10 different stories. Over the years, I have noticed that some people find it difficult to recognize an unhooked pattern on the rack from the finished rug on the wall and sometime if the picture has a different colour plan it can be confusing as well. Colour is a huge influence, pulling from our memories past experiences. We react the same way to visual stimuli as we would respond to a pleasant scent, a piece of music. Red may represent the dress that a favorite aunt used to wear. Yellow can be the blond girl that stared back at you in the mirror. Pink, the dominant colour of the floral wallpaper at grandma's house. Green, a blanket you suckled as a small child. Memory and past experiences influence all aspects of our lives.
Colour is so personal. We wear it every day. We choose our clothes, gravitating toward certain favourite colours time and time again. Through experience, I believe that people buy rugs because of the colour first and the composition second. Probably the same is true for paintings. I ask rug purchasers what attracted them to a piece they admired on the wall and "the colours" is the usual answer. We anal types like our art to fit our homes, not clash and stand like a sore thumb. We are attracted to what is familiar. We paint our walls and decorate our interiors first and then pick accents that hold hands while skipping down the same path.
An interesting observation I'd like to share. When customers come in the shop for colour planning a new project, they may not be sure where to begin, so we work together until we whittle it down to what pleases their eye. Time and time again I have to laugh, and let them know that we have decided on the same colours that they are wearing that day. They look down at their clothing and smile as the realization hits them. I boost customer confidence by telling them they colour plan every day. They dress themselves in coordinating outfits. Look at your rug as if you are dressing your body, it may help remove the apprehension out of the experience.
I am told by a lot of rug hookers that colour planning is daunting. But remember, you aren't out on a limb without assistance....believe it or not your palette is partially chosen for you. Most of the rugs we hook are for our homes so if this next project is slated for the living room, draw on the colours in the curtains, the sofa, the throw cushions and carpet. There is no need to stress, your colour palette is being handed to you on a silver platter, reach out and grab it! Look at your surroundings and invite those colours in. Your home, the proverbial nest, is a representation of your favorite colours so run with it.
Tip: If you need help to dye the wool for your next heirloom, gather paint chips and samples of your upholstery and head to your closest rug studio to use as a guideline for them to create your colours or dive into the dye pot and create them yourself. Don't try to be too matchy, matchy, colours blend beautifully if tonally close. Don’t be burdened with these decisions, a little colour planning angst is okay; remember, no pressure, no diamond.
The customer adapted the pattern into a stool cover by squaring off the top curve. Instead of the traditional red buildings of Lunenburg she vamped the design by selecting other colours, bringing a whole new feel to the pattern. Suddenly it had international appeal, represented any fishing village along the eastern seaboard, a quaint harbour in Newfoundland, a small inlet of Nova Scotia, a coastal scene from Maine, many countries in the world could boast such a lovely harbour.
Hooking is like baking, give the same recipe to 10 people and every dish will have a different flavour. Thank goodness as this makes our world a more interesting place. The same is true with rug hooking. A pattern given to 10 rug hookers will tell 10 different stories. Over the years, I have noticed that some people find it difficult to recognize an unhooked pattern on the rack from the finished rug on the wall and sometime if the picture has a different colour plan it can be confusing as well. Colour is a huge influence, pulling from our memories past experiences. We react the same way to visual stimuli as we would respond to a pleasant scent, a piece of music. Red may represent the dress that a favorite aunt used to wear. Yellow can be the blond girl that stared back at you in the mirror. Pink, the dominant colour of the floral wallpaper at grandma's house. Green, a blanket you suckled as a small child. Memory and past experiences influence all aspects of our lives.
Colour is so personal. We wear it every day. We choose our clothes, gravitating toward certain favourite colours time and time again. Through experience, I believe that people buy rugs because of the colour first and the composition second. Probably the same is true for paintings. I ask rug purchasers what attracted them to a piece they admired on the wall and "the colours" is the usual answer. We anal types like our art to fit our homes, not clash and stand like a sore thumb. We are attracted to what is familiar. We paint our walls and decorate our interiors first and then pick accents that hold hands while skipping down the same path.
An interesting observation I'd like to share. When customers come in the shop for colour planning a new project, they may not be sure where to begin, so we work together until we whittle it down to what pleases their eye. Time and time again I have to laugh, and let them know that we have decided on the same colours that they are wearing that day. They look down at their clothing and smile as the realization hits them. I boost customer confidence by telling them they colour plan every day. They dress themselves in coordinating outfits. Look at your rug as if you are dressing your body, it may help remove the apprehension out of the experience.
I am told by a lot of rug hookers that colour planning is daunting. But remember, you aren't out on a limb without assistance....believe it or not your palette is partially chosen for you. Most of the rugs we hook are for our homes so if this next project is slated for the living room, draw on the colours in the curtains, the sofa, the throw cushions and carpet. There is no need to stress, your colour palette is being handed to you on a silver platter, reach out and grab it! Look at your surroundings and invite those colours in. Your home, the proverbial nest, is a representation of your favorite colours so run with it.
Tip: If you need help to dye the wool for your next heirloom, gather paint chips and samples of your upholstery and head to your closest rug studio to use as a guideline for them to create your colours or dive into the dye pot and create them yourself. Don't try to be too matchy, matchy, colours blend beautifully if tonally close. Don’t be burdened with these decisions, a little colour planning angst is okay; remember, no pressure, no diamond.
Lunenburg Cosy squared off and hooked with a totally different colour palette.
Great job Dody Conner!
Great job Dody Conner!
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