By Guest Blogger Dick Barr
DICK HOLDING UP HIS HEIRLOOM GIFT TO HIS SON Hi Christine,
I've hooked a lot of rugs and I believe in something I was told or read years ago…"you have to love your rug". Well, our first born and only son, asked for a rug for his bathroom and he described a "bear reaching for honey". I asked for more input, but all I got was, "I know what it looks like…in my head". Not much help.
So I took the measurements and checked some colors in the bathroom, cut some linen and started drawing. I was underwhelmed. Beginning to hook it didn't help much. I was using a lot of scrap, so no tactile "boost" from any hand dyed strips. With a dozen hours or so under my belt I was just about to the point that I was dreading the next 50 or so more. I just didn't care for this rug. I don't hook cartoon rugs. I like primitives; cats, horses, chickens, the odd village or farm scene. This rug was going to be a real bummer.
Then something really neat happened. I showed the design to my son. Ben is usually pretty calm. He doesn't show a lot of emotion. So it was particularly uplifting when he was really tickled with the design and said, "it's just what I was thinking of".
Funny, you can have a little guy around for 33 years and even though he is out on his own and quite independent, when you see that old glimmer of excitement in his eyes you are powerless to ignore it. From that point forward I "loved my rug".
Thanks for your blog. I always enjoy it!
Best regards,
Dick Barr
I've hooked a lot of rugs and I believe in something I was told or read years ago…"you have to love your rug". Well, our first born and only son, asked for a rug for his bathroom and he described a "bear reaching for honey". I asked for more input, but all I got was, "I know what it looks like…in my head". Not much help.
So I took the measurements and checked some colors in the bathroom, cut some linen and started drawing. I was underwhelmed. Beginning to hook it didn't help much. I was using a lot of scrap, so no tactile "boost" from any hand dyed strips. With a dozen hours or so under my belt I was just about to the point that I was dreading the next 50 or so more. I just didn't care for this rug. I don't hook cartoon rugs. I like primitives; cats, horses, chickens, the odd village or farm scene. This rug was going to be a real bummer.
Then something really neat happened. I showed the design to my son. Ben is usually pretty calm. He doesn't show a lot of emotion. So it was particularly uplifting when he was really tickled with the design and said, "it's just what I was thinking of".
Funny, you can have a little guy around for 33 years and even though he is out on his own and quite independent, when you see that old glimmer of excitement in his eyes you are powerless to ignore it. From that point forward I "loved my rug".
Thanks for your blog. I always enjoy it!
Best regards,
Dick Barr
Dick Barr sent this touching story that's steeped in a lesson learned. It reminded me of the time, many years back when I hooked commissions. I found them to be trying, usually the patterns didn't inspire me personally and I was using colours that aren't normally a part of my repertoire so I was unenthused about the project. Not being motivated by the money and hooking for a stranger also made the effort lack luster.
Suddenly every loop is fingernails along a blackboard. To take the time and effort needed to hook a rug there needs to be a whole lot of inspiration, excitement, a thrill to see the finished project; the necessary fuel to take you to the end. Hooking a rug should never make you feel like your being escorted to the gallows. It's all about fun... sharing....a journey. It should be stimulation for the artist within, a connection to the finished product formed in your mind's eye, not a pin stuck in it. Any time there is drag, the project ends up in a closet, neglected and forgotten. I stopped doing commissions for these reasons and now only hook for my own pleasure. Once hooking becomes work, a chore, the fun fades away. Dick certainly summed up the emotional trail that is traversed when not inspired by a rug, but luckily he found the connection needed to make it to the finish line in the glint of his son's eye.
Thanks so much for sharing Dick and like your son, I was sentimental when I saw the heirloom you are leaving to your most precious creation, Ben.
Suddenly every loop is fingernails along a blackboard. To take the time and effort needed to hook a rug there needs to be a whole lot of inspiration, excitement, a thrill to see the finished project; the necessary fuel to take you to the end. Hooking a rug should never make you feel like your being escorted to the gallows. It's all about fun... sharing....a journey. It should be stimulation for the artist within, a connection to the finished product formed in your mind's eye, not a pin stuck in it. Any time there is drag, the project ends up in a closet, neglected and forgotten. I stopped doing commissions for these reasons and now only hook for my own pleasure. Once hooking becomes work, a chore, the fun fades away. Dick certainly summed up the emotional trail that is traversed when not inspired by a rug, but luckily he found the connection needed to make it to the finish line in the glint of his son's eye.
Thanks so much for sharing Dick and like your son, I was sentimental when I saw the heirloom you are leaving to your most precious creation, Ben.
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