A Talented and Creative Friend

As I'm pondering what to write about on my blog suddenly it came to me about an email conversation between me and friends.  Joan Strausbaugh (who has been published numerous times in Rug Hooking Magazine) sent me a picture of a hooked/proddy project which our mutual friend might enjoy.  

That mutual friend (and she's gonna hate me when she reads my blog) is Char Lough.  Char prefers to be in the background and doesn't like attention but think her work is awesome and worthy of sharing. 

A few years ago our friend Char took loads of photos of moss to study and hooked a piece for inside her Adirondack cabin home.   The photo was taken at the rug show at Cape May and not in her home but you get the idea.  

Char also wanted a bear rug in front of their fireplace at the cabin and she did a proddy and hooked mama bear.  Again photo taken at Cape May rug camp.  

A close up of the bear's face.

AH, here is a photo that Char just sent me of both mama and baby bear together.

As most of us just starting to hook and building our stash, we collect undesirable wool from thrift shops.  Either it won't full when washed, has polyester, or maybe too thick after washing. Smart Char saved all that dark wool and used it to proddy the bear. Good grief!!!!!! That is what I should start working on...DUH!!

Another fantastic original design by Char was this Full Beaver Moon.  If you look carefully you'll see the beaver has teeth and claws.  Of course there was a story behind the rug.  Tap on the photo and look at the detail of everything.

Char can hook primitive and naive as well.  When she was starting to think about becoming a 'snowbird' and downsizing she stumbled upon a drawing by her now adult son drawn at a very young age.  She decided to turn that whale drawing into a rug.  This is an heirloom the son will cherish as a work of art by him as a child and captured in another form of art by his mom.

Char prefers to design her own rugs rather than buying patterns.  She knows there are many talented designers out there but her first teacher Janet Reid instilled the desire to design her own.

Char entertained us with the funny story behind the next rug which was started at rug camp with Barb Carroll.  The short story is Char directing her husband to get closer to the log truck in front of them so she could get a picture.  She sure does know how to entertain us with her words as well as her hooking.

Okay, here is an over the shoulder view of my pal Char as she ponders placement of her next color on her log rug.

This is the beautiful result of her study of photos and use of textures. At camp Char had various wool and was also using silk from blouses of appropriate colors to give texture to her logs.

Sadly I don't have photos of Char's works before I was lucky enough to meet her.  However, the grande piece of work is the Wedding Rug Char hooked for her daughter and son-in-law. 

Look at the list of family history hooked into the roots of the TREE of LIFE. OMG, what a beautiful work of art it is and family heirloom.   Here is a picture taken of it with a different setting and probably without a flash.  

Not sure what Char is hooking now but she is well connected with a group in Florida.  She's one very talented lady and I miss her since becoming a snowbird.

Hope you enjoyed the eye candy.

Saundra

My Friend's Rugs

Although I have shown some of these previously, perhaps some of the new followers haven't seen them or didn't go back far enough into the archives to view them.  The following rugs were hooked by my friend Char.  When I posted a picture of her Baby Bear rug  and her Moss rug, mentioned about her Full Beaver Moon and think I mentioned about the Wedding Rug she hooked for her daughter and son-in-law.  I'll show you pictures now.

This is Full Beaver Moon and think she did a magnificent job on the moon and that is a show being cast by the moon in front of the beaver ~ quite beautiful I think.  And, if you double-click on it you will see the nails and teeth that Char made out of femo.

This is the Wedding Rug and it is humongous.  You must click on this one to enlarge.  The name of the groom is on the left top part of the tree and Char's daughter's name is on the right.  Likewise, the names of Jacob's family names are down the trunk (his parents) and into the roots are their parent's names.  Ditto for Char's daughter Glynnis' family on the right.  Then between the roots is a heart and the birth dates of the bride and groom on each side.  To say this is breathtaking is an understatement.  

And I mentioned that my dear friend Deb forgot to take another rug she finished last year and it was one she started in Kris Miller's class at Cape May.  It is named Glad Tidings.  She had it hanging in her home by the time Christmas arrived.  She used some of Kris' sheep locks for Santa's beard.

I did show you Deb's hooking of the Kinderhook Antique Basket in the show but will post it here again.  The lighting on the rug does not do it justice at all, it is  not washed out in person like it shows up here.

And since I also hooked that same rug, here is mine.  You will not believe what just happened.  I have a flash drive with all of the pictures in folders aptly named for Cape May and year, individual files with special names a file called "Saundra's Stuff".  I went there to retrieve a picture of this rug and the entire file is GONE.  I saw something flash on the screen when I clicked it and went to the SEARCH box on my computer to see if I could get it back but a message came up saying that file was damaged and beyond repair and not available.  OMG, my favorite dolls, all of my rugs, and things I've sold and wanted to keep a photo of all gone before my very eyes.  I just took a photo of this since it is hanging on the wall and guess I've got to re-photo everyone that I still own so that I can have them on file.  Oh man am I bummed!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by, I'm so ticked that I'm gong to open up a bottle of Merlot.  And do you believe tomorrow is OCTOBER?  Already?  I'm not ready for the holidays whatsoever!!!!!

Saundra