E.S. Frost Sheep Finish

Except for binding, I have finished the E.S. Frost sheep with birds and flowers (antique adaption available through Saundra at Woodland Junction - click on her blog link over in the right column).  I need to bind the rug and block it a bit more, but the main hooking is finished.

 Kathy Clark, Briarwood Folk Art.

I am very pleased with this stately sheep.  He is quite the new gent in my house, and he may be replacing my Big Dog Hollow rug over the fireplace, which is some big shoes to fill.  Or should I say big paws to fill.

For fun, I worked up the sheep in Photoshop to give him a chance to potentially unseat Big Dog.  The wall is actually a deeper rust color than it shows in photos.  It comes out sort of orange due to camera flash.

Hmmm, I think the sheep may win me over.  I like the light color of the sheep with the fireplace. Someday I hope to distress the fireplace a bit, to give the carving on it some depth.  But the sheep is good in this location, yes?

I got so enamored with hooking the Frost sheep I had to do another little one from scraps; see the same colors as the big sheep rug?  Why not use up the scraps?  So this little guy hopped onto and off of my frame this week as a small project.  He is about 13 x 12" and oh so sweet.

Small lamb among the do-wickies (strange shapes in the rug).  Kathy Clark, Briarwood Folk Art.

I'm in the throes of getting ready to head to rug camp.  I changed my mind (what a surprise) and have adjusted the pattern I'm taking.  I'm still going with the peacocks but the border design is different and one where I can practice a continuing love affair with hit and miss hooking.  This colorized version is  a mock-up for fleshing out the pattern; I cannot achieve the true colors I'm planning to use with my Photoshop skills.

Peacocks in the Meadow, Kathy Clark, Briarwood Folk Art

We leave on Saturday 3/8 so I will be off the air for over a week but will return with good pictures from rug camp!  Happy hooking to one and all.

Drawing vs. Hooking

I have too many rugs I should be actively hooking, but instead I've been drawing out pattern ideas.  This recent drawing flurry is based on going to Yellow Rose Rug Camp in Salado TX in a few weeks and I want to have my class project ready to go.

I've been in love with this peacock for a long time, influenced by an antique rug.  I began designing some patterns around the peacock about two years ago, but other projects got in the way of this bird making it onto my frame.

Focusing on a camp project has led to this design:

Kathy Clark, Briarwood Folk Art Peacocks and Tulip Tree influenced by an antique rug.

This rug is a precursor to a larger scale rug with the peacocks.  I have a special wall in my living room for a larger rug where I want to put the peacocks among a floral menagerie.  That design will be about 40" x 32" but that's only a guesstimate on the eventual size.  I've got to get this smaller peacock rug finished first.

The E.S. Frost sheep is coming along, but the triangles are not calling my name for long bouts of hooking.  This is the tedious part, but it will be worth it in the end.  I hope to have this rug ready to take to Yellow Rose for the rug show.  I do love this rug; it's a keeper.

E.S. Frost Sheep and Birds antique rug adaption - pattern available through Saundra at Woodland Junction.

Happy hooking to one and all!

Yes, antique black is it!

I've finished the main background area around Mr. Baaaa.  That's the sheep's name so far.  It may change, but for now it's Mr. Baaaa.

I love the antique black background mix surrounding Mr. Baaaa.  It sets him off  so well and when you are close to the rug, looking at the mix of different wool textures is so interesting.

As I mentioned in the last post, the antique black mix is made up of many various wool strips.   Out of curiosity, I pulled a variety of strips from my big bag of worms that I use for the antique black background to examine the mix more carefully.  I  easily found 20 different strips that comprise the background.  They blend together well if you use short bursts of each strip.  In hooking a space of two square inches there may be 5-8 different wool strips due to hooking just a few loops of each strip of wool.

Here are some pictures of the mixture but the camera flash distorts the actual color.  They appear quite dark in person, verging on black, but not true black.

The browner strips are more pronounced due to camera flash.

Camera flash makes the strips appear brighter and more washed out than they really are,
but this will give you an idea of all the textured wool going into the background.

And here is Mr. Baaa with the antique black background.  I love it!

Hmmm, as I inspect this picture I see a strip that may have to come out.
In the lower right corner, just below the flower, there's a long discoloration strip.
I'll have to check this out for possible reverse hooking.  This is why standing back from your work is important.
You can spot pieces or sections that are not blending well.  

A close up of the bird so you can see the play of different dark strips of wool.

Lulu approves.  But of course, she's a herding dog so sheep are in her blood!

And speaking of sheep, did I ever show you the completed Peaceful Valley sheep pattern?  I don't think I ever posted the final pictures of this rug.

Next, the triangles on Mr. Baaaa!  Ugggg!

New Rug Update

I haven't had a lot of time to hook lately.  There have been a lot of other responsibilities taking precedence, so progress on this rug is slow.

Here's a quick update on the rug in progress:

Peaceful Valley by Kathy Clark, www.briarwoodfolkart.com

I have had to work a lot on issues related to contrast in this rug.  The chickens fading into the grass and field background areas; the small gray lamb's legs fading into the grass.

The middle size lamb's ears had to be reworked.  They were too short and stumpy.  They are better now, but I'm still not sure about them.  They may get reworked again.

The painted sky is time consuming.  I don't do the traditional straight lines across the rug with a painted sky.  I move the colors around more than straight lines.  

I will have to rework the drawing for the final pattern once I'm finished with this prototype.  I can't say I like it yet, but this often happens to me and then, in the final 5 minutes as I finish a rug I finally like it!

New Rug

In the last post I shared some mock-up photos of some new hooked rug designs.  Here is the sheep rug partially hooked.  This is approximately 38 x 23" and is hooked in an 8.5 and 9 cuts.  I am working on a painted sky approach to the sky background area.

Dyeing a painted sky is more fun than trying to hook it and have it come out how you want it.  There will be plenty of tweaking to do on the sky.

Peaceful Valley, Kathy Clark, Briarwood Folk Art

New Designs

I've been playing a little lately, making up some new designs.  Making designs on the computer is so fun and relaxing for me.  But tell me, when will I find time to hook these designs?  And which one shall I work on first?  After all, I have a huge number of patterns I want to hook besides these new drafts.  The colors below are for purposes of illustration and not color plans for the ultimate rugs.

I am not really a big angel fan, but I have always been fond of the Fractur image of two angels arms up to one another.  This general design has been used in so many art images and hooked rugs with the angels grasping candles, Christmas trees and whatnot.  Mine are passing on a message to be true to yourself, love yourself and take care of your heart.

To Thine Own Heart be True:  Kathy Clark, Briarwood Folk Art, all rights reserved.

I was sort of itching to work on a pictorial rug and I usually head for the dogs on my pictorials.  But I have been doing a lot of dogs in the past two years and I figured it's time to expand my horizon.  So sheep became the focus (what a surprise, huh?).  Capitalizing on one of my favorite antique rugs of a Ewe and lamb, I added in another sheep and a farm scene around the sheepies.  I have this rug in progress and am working out some bugs in the design.

Farm Life:  Kathy Clark, Briarwood Folk Art, all rights reserved.

I want a fun rug to hang in the guest room that is whimsical and makes guests feel welcome.  The guest room is still "under construction" but it's getting closer to completion.  I am hoping to have some very honored guests here from Dallas TX in October.  Hint, hint Martha, if you are reading this!  And Pat, who sometimes reads this blog, when are you coming out dearie?!  This rug is next on my "to do" list so it can adorn the guest room by late September.

Friendship Message:  Kathy Clark, Briarwood Folk Art, all rights reserved.

If you are interested in hooking any of these designs, please email me for more info: briarwoodfolkart@surewest.net

If you wish to pin a picture for Pinterest, please give credit to me and reference to my blog.