A note from Jeanne...

First appeared in Hooker's Hotline Express - March 1, 2005. Subscribe.

Over the last 2 years we have been able to offer designs by other Canadian artists and I do believe that this move has been positive and added a great deal to our collection of designs. In the next few months, I would like to tell you more about the artists and their works.

This month, I would like to introduce you to Emily Carr and tell you about my quest for her paintings and hooked rugs. She was born in 1871 and died in 1945 but it wasn't until 1970 that I became interested in her paintings and her life as one of Canada's most distinguished Artists.

Emily Carr lived most of her life in Victoria, British Columbia and there painted First Nations Villages, Totem Poles, dark haunting forests, wild beaches and vast skies.

In 2001 I was visiting my son in Victoria, BC; he is a conservator at the Royal Museum in Victoria. Next door to the museum is the BC Archives building and I spent several days on the computer pulling up Emily Carr's images and paintings that are the property of the BC Archives. I made copious notes, printed off coloured photos and narrowed my choices down to a reasonable number. By the end of my visit I had a proposal ready for permission to print 9 paintings, 2 sketches and 2 hooked rugs. That's right, two hooked rugs.

Let me tell you about the rugs... There was a 15 year period when Emily stopped painting and during that time she ran a boarding house, raised sheep dogs, hooked rugs and made pottery with a native flavour. We have two of the rugs, one is called Adam and Eve, the tale that we have heard is... Emily hooked the rug for her sister and her brother-in-law who were missionaries, sent it to them and they returned it, somewhat upset with the topic of the rug.

The second rug is called The Eagle Rug, it has a Native feel to it and the interesting thing about this rug is along the lower right hand side it looks like someone chewed it. Well, that's what happened... Emily had a pet monkey called Woo; she loved this monkey and dressed Woo in some pretty smart clothes. Woo must have been hungry, because one day she chewed the right hand side. The BC Archives decided not to mend the rug but leave it as is. That shows how important Woo was to Emily.

It took 1-1/2 years to finalize our proposal and receive permission to print 13 of Emily Carr's artistic works on backing for rug hooking. Several designs have been hooked and I am so proud of the work that our hooking friends have done and if Emily could see them she would be proud as punch.

The Museums and Art Galleries across Canada who own works by well known artists are very protective of these artists... and we had to prove that our patterns featuring Emily Carr would be a tribute to this remarkable lady.

Visit the web site to view Emily Carr's patterns. There are some workshops coming up for Emily Carr's designs. Check the Studio Events section on our web site for information on these workshops.