Exclusive Excerpt from Celebration 28

Exclusive Excerpt from Celebration 28

Original Design: Morning Haze

Morning Haze, 31" x 27", #3-cut hand-dyed wool on burlap. Designed and hooked by Toni Gallagher, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada, 2016.

The origin of this rug cam from when I drew a simple pattern of a lighthouse and water on burlap for a friend. Due to problems with her wrist, she was unable to hook it, so I bought it back, left it for a few years, and then decided to hook it. I redrew the whole thing to suit me, and as I hooked, I kept adding things—my nephew's lobster boat, lupins, seagulls, rocks—until it was pleasing to my eye.

I dyed most of the wool myself and tried a few different colors for the water and sky. They were the hardest colors to choose. I wanted both the water and sky to be darker than on a sunny day. The sky is partly dip-dyed for the horizon. I think it makes it look like there is an impending storm coming. The clouds are spot dyes I did, with other grays mixed in.

I'm biased because I like the whole rug together, but I do have a couple of favorite spots. I was hooking the front grass and cliff, and when I stepped back to look at it, it seemed to have a 3-D effect, as though it was popping out from the lighthouse. I wondered how I did that, but I liked the effect. Adding my nephew's lobster boat seemed to finish it off. The surf around the rocks, trying to make it look like water, was challenging to do, as was hooking the rocks. I just worked through it until it felt right.

Both my aunt and mother designed and hooked their own rugs. I always thought when I retired, I would get them to teach me, but alas, my aunt died in 1990 and my mother in 1994, both from cancer. In 1994, our doctor's wife offered to teach me, so I took her up on it, and the rest is history. I've taken a few classes at the rug hooking school offered by the Rug Hooking Guild of Nova Scotia, as well as a few workshops. I think rug hooking is the most relaxing and forgiving hobby that I have done. I get to design my own rugs and paint with wool at the same time. I dabble as a watercolorist also and am amazed at some of the effects I can get with fiber.

In The Judges' Eyes: Consistent attention to light source with the white waves adding interest, connecting the bird to lighthouse; The sky is wonderful and the lupins in the foreground are the exclamation point. All-around nice rug. Great sky, creates a feeling of the shoreline after a rainstorm.

Toni Gallagher
Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada
Toni is retired. She belongs to the Rug Hooking Build of Nova Scotia Fundy Group, which meets once a month, and to three other smaller groups that hook one day every week. This is her third appearance in Celebration.