Calypso

Dimensions: 29" x 50"
Materials: #6-cut wool on monk's cloth
Designed by Melissa Elliott and hooked by Jan Winter, Hollywood, California, 2007.
Featured in: Celebration XX

"I first saw the pattern Calypso in Celebration where it was hooked by its designer Melissa Elliott. I was attracted by the wavy pattern of the stems and leaves and thought it looked like an underwater plant. I'd been looking for an underwater sea rug with a mermaid for a long time without success, so this really appealed to me. When I got the pattern, I decided to really accentuate my idea by changing several of Melissa's flowers to look more like shells or anemones. On one flower, I elongated the leaves and crossed them over each other to look like the water was waving them, another I made into a nautilus shell shape, and the third became a stylized clamshell. The corner stars easily became starfish. The border looked just like a picture frame, and I decided that it was the frame around an underwater exhibit at the aquarium.

My favorite part of the rug is the wavy anemone. I do not draw well and searched the Google images on my computer frantically looking for an anemone I might be able to copy, but none were quite right. Finally, I got my husband and a girlfriend into the act who each submitted their interpretations. After a lot of erasing, Xeroxing and lightbox work it finally looked wavy enough. Whenever I look at it I remember them helping me."
- Jan Winter, Celebration Hall of Fame 2018