I am the first to admit that my images of hooked rugs have come straight out of the kind of catalogs that stuff mailboxes in the fall, businesses selling peanut brittle, fruit baskets and hooked rugs depicting frolicking puppies, Frosty the Snowman and pumpkins.
The rugs currently on view at the Pompanoosuc Mills showroom, in the exhibition “Hooked Fiber Arts” are of a different order altogether. These are vibrantly colored, ingeniously designed pieces, some abstract, some figurative.
They have a visual effect similar to that of painting, only the painting is done with wool or nylon, instead of oil. The workmanship is remarkable, achieving depth and nuance, with subtle shifts in color and variegations in texture and tone.
There are some 60 works on view, said Ed O’Keeffe, the Pompanoosuc Mills showroom manager, who has been making his own hooked rugs since 1999, when he was introduced to the craft. As a man making hooked rugs he is, he said, something of a “rare beast,” because women, by and large, have been the artisans.
There’s some debate over when the art and craft of rug hooking began, but its popularity in this country dates from the late 18th to early 19th century. The technique, hooking loops of wool or another fabric through such materials as linen or burlap, is extraordinarily time-consuming, when you consider how many variations in design and color the rug hooker contends with.
Little wonder, said O’Keeffe, that so few of the works on view are for sale.
“You possess it, you can’t imagine parting with it. And you could never get what it’s worth,” he said.
Liz Guth, of Tunbridge, makes rugs influenced by the intricate geometric designs of the Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of Congo — hypnotic patterns of interlocking diamonds, squares and rectangles with shimmering bands of color. She works every day, but laughed when asked whether she has a studio. Her bed is her studio, and she finds it more convenient to work on it than on a table or other surface.
One of Guth’s works, Long Island City, a depiction of a Queens subway platform, with the Manhattan skyline in the background, is a stellar example of an artist expanding the parameters of form by marrying a traditional craft with an unconventional subject.
Other works of note in the exhibition include: Primitive Cat by Judith Phillips, of Norwich; a study of a female merganser followed by her ducklings, by Jennifer Davey, of Thetford; Kiss the Cod, a fish in water surrounded by the outline of the Atlantic by Fern Strong, of Tunbridge; a floral bed rug by Sue Gault, of Thetford.
The show has been well-received, with visitors coming from all over New England and parts of Canada to see it, O’Keeffe said. It continues through Nov. 27. For information go to pompy.com/showrooms/0/35 or call 800-841-6671.
Openings and Receptions
The Library Arts Center in Newport, N.H., will kick off its annual holiday exhibition, “Gallery of Gifts: Handmade Holiday Boutique” on Friday with a public reception from 5 to 7 p.m. The holiday show is a good way to take in the range of beautifully crafted, handmade work by area artists and artisans. The exhibit and sale run through Dec. 23.
Fairlee painter Robert Rae’s work is included in the exhibition “Wonderland Forever,” a show inspired by Lewis Carroll’s classic children’s book Alice in Wonderland, which opens today at the Royalton Memorial Library in South Royalton with a public reception from 6 to 8 p.m. The show has also been exhibited in Montpelier, and in Littleton and Bethlehem, N.H. Through Dec. 31.
There will be an opening reception today from 4 to 6 p.m at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Hanover for the exhibition “East Meets West,” a show of brush paintings on silk and etchings by, respectively, Ann and Bruce Peck. On view through Dec. 20.
Call for Entries
ArtisTree Gallery in South Pomfret has also put out a call for entries for its annual “Small Works” Holiday show, which opens Dec. 2. The deadline for entries is Nov. 20. The requirements and application are online at artistreevt.org/small-works-exhibit.
Ongoing
ArtisTree Gallery, South Pomfret. “The Life Works of Cynthia Emerlye” runs through Nov. 18.
AVA Gallery and Art Center, Lebanon. “Doors and Windows: Open and Closed,” a juried exhibition featuring 16 works by 16 New England artists. Rebecca Lawrence, former director of the New Hampshire State Arts Council, selected the show from 126 works submitted by 74 artists. The featured artists are: Charlet Davenport, Stephanie Gordon, Nira Granott Fox, Chris Groschner, Medora Hebert, William B. Hoyt, Carol Lake, Margaret Lampe Kannenstine, Travis Paige, Rebecca Rolke, Adele Sanborn, Helen Shulman, Stefania Urist, Janet Van Fleet, Jeffrey Wallace and Susan Wilson.
Also at AVA: “Every So Often,” paintings by Mary Hart, a Portland, Maine, artist who graduated from Dartmouth College and whose work has been exhibited at the Portland Museum of Art and the University of Maine Art Museum. Another Portland artist, Vivien Russe, shows abstract work in “Lumen.” Norwich artist Robyn Whitney Fairclough rounds out the AVA exhibitions with her “Recent Works,” featuring floral paintings that demonstrate her mastery of color.
All of the shows at AVA run through Friday.
BigTown Gallery, Rochester, Vt. The wood sculptures of Hugh Townley are on view through Dec. 2. Also on view through Dec. 2 is “Bridge Wharf Raft,” wall sculptures by Paul Bowen.
Center For the Arts, New London. The juried Regional Exhibition, which features work by 20 New Hampshire artists, runs through Jan. 27.
Center for Art and Design, Colby-Sawyer College, New London. “Inner Visions: Selections from the Collection of Beverly Stearns Bronson ’55,” an exhibition of outsider art, including works by Martin Ramirez, Bill Traylor and Nellie Mae Rowe, continues in the Davidow Gallery through Dec. 10.
Chew & Co. Design, Hanover. The water photographs of Rockland, Maine, resident Joan Wright are on view through November.
Cider Hill Gardens and Gallery, Windsor. On view this month are sculpture, painting and installations by Steven Proctor, Herb Ferris, Gary Haven Smith and the Mythmakers.
Converse Free Library, Lyme. “Landscapes: Lyme and Tuscany,” an exhibition of work by Greg Gorman in the Betty Grant Gallery, runs through Dec. 29. Gorman will donate 10 percent of his art sales to the Friends of Lyme Library.
Kilton Public Library, West Lebanon. East Randolph artist Marcia Hammond exhibits oil portraits through Jan. 31.
Piermont Public Library. “Connecticut River Valley and Beyond: Oil Paintings and Photography by Nancy Griswold” is on display through Nov. 29.
Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, Cornish. Exhibition buildings have closed for the season, but the grounds are still open.
Scavenger Gallery, White River Junction. Works by owner Stacy Hopkins, sculptor and jeweler Margaret Jacobs, and Rich Fedorchak are on view. Jacobs will be managing the gallery for three weeks while Hopkins is away. If you wish to visit outside regular hours, please call Jacobs for an appointment at 315-528-9020.
Tunbridge Public Library. “Challenge and Happiness in Abstract Painting” by artist David Fisk, of Post Mills, runs through Jan. 19. There will be an opening reception on Sunday, Nov. 19, from 2 to 4 p.m.
Two Rivers Printmaking Studio, White River Junction. Lois Masor Beatty and Maureen O’Connor Burgess show recent work through November.
White River Gallery, South Royalton. Sculptures by John F. Parker are on view through Dec. 31.
Zollikofer Gallery, Hotel Coolidge, White River Junction. An exhibition of work by members of the Vermont Pastel Society continues through Dec. 27.
Nicola Smith can be reached at mail@nicolasmith.org.