Seventh Newtown Hooked Rug Show

May Have Been Best Presentation To Date

By Shannon Hicks

The juried competition of the 7th Annual Newtown Hooked Rug Show attracted handmade creations from across the country but it was a local (very local) hooked piece that won this year’s blue ribbon on October 4.

Sandy Hook artist Liz Alpert Fay used balloons to create “Just For Fun,” a 35-inch-tall by 21-inch-wide wall hanging that one show attendee called “innovative” and another called “imaginative.”

The competition this year drew entrees from South Easton, Mass.; Wilmington, N.C.; New Canaan; Warren, N.J.; and Hayward, Calif., among other locations. Mrs Fay’s entry certainly answered the challenge of this year’s theme, which was “Pushing The Limits: New Concepts in Rug Hooking.” Mrs Fay, who is also co-chairman of the annual hooked rug event, also incorporated a dozen miniature toy tops across the top of the work, a pair of miniature pinwheels were spotted near the upper corners of the work, and curly ribbon draped along the sides of the work gave it an additional dimension.

Judges Ellen Highsmith Silver and Terry Capuana told Mrs Fay that her work filled the show’s criteria. “They thought it was fun also, which was why they went with it, they told me,” she said.

“The whole concept behind the juried part of the show is to try new materials and new ideas, to experiment, so I was searching for things that weren’t usually used in rug hooking,” Mrs Fay said of her clever creation.

“Other than being a little stretchy, the balloons were fine to work with,” she added with a laugh. The stretchiness of the balloons, it turns out, was not the only unexpected hurdle for the rug hooker. “They have a life of their own. They like to curl, which is why I ended up having to mount it,” said Ms Fay. “Also, the color choices are limited. There were a few parameters I had to live with.”

The piece was done in stages, so it was hard for Mrs Fay to determine how much time was spent on it but, she said, “it was fun.”

The two judges were also challenged with selecting a winner and honorable mention for a Surface Design Award, which celebrated a rug hooker’s patterning or coloring of the fabric, according to Mrs Fay.

“Four Seasons on the North Fork,” by East Chester, N.Y., resident Marilyn Bottjer, received the top award and Constance Old’s “Sampler: White With Buttons” won honorable mention. Ms Bottjer’s work was designed to look like a series of four postcards, strung together, to be hung accordion style or collapsed for storage.

“It was reminiscent of those postcards you find when you go on vacation, those postcards that come in a pack,” said Mrs Fay. The judges liked Ms Bottjer’s use of needle felting, hooking and dyeing, she added.

“Sampler: White With Buttons” incorporated found materials such as paper, plastic bags, and bottle caps, “things that people throw out on the side of the road,” Ms Fay explained. “Constance said with her piece, she’s preserving these things. She’s making a statement, really, about what we’re discarding.”

The other hooked piece to receive an award this year was an antique item done by Kathleen Corrigan, who used pieces of her children’s clothing to put together a floral piece in 1954. Daughter Pat Corrigan put that work into the nonjuried presentation of the Newtown Hooked Rug Show, and it was selected by attendees for the 2008 People’s Choice Award.

A total of 90 rugs were on view this year, with 20 of those items in the juried portion of the show and the other 70 in the nonjuried/open presentation.

An Expanding Event

The Newtown Hooked Rug Show has expanded noticeably since its debut in 2002 (when it was presented at Newtown Meeting House). While it was presented solely in the cafetorium of Reed School for its first few years after moving to that location in 2003, now that large room is given over almost primarily to the 33 vendors who offer patterns, materials, tools, books, ideas, advice, and conversation. One corner of the room is still occupied by members of the Nutmeg chapter of The Association of Traditional Hooking Artists (ATHA).

The layout of the booths offers easy browsing for shoppers, and encourages showgoers to take their time comparing prices and supplies while also admiring many of the hooked pieces that vendors use to decorate their own booths (and show off their own talents).

Fifteen rug hooking enthusiasts had signed up in advance for the workshop with Trish Becker, which focused on wide-cut animals. Participants worked on Ms Becker’s “Folk Art Cat ©2008,” which had been designed for the Newtown event.

Also at this year’s show was June Myles, an author and rug hooker who presented a program called “A Personal Odyssey in Rug Hooking: The Percolation and Expression of Ideas.” Ms Myles had a booth set up during the show, where she met and chatted with anyone who wanted a few minutes with her during the day. She was also available to sign copies of her book, If Wool Could Talk — Hooked Rugs, a Memoir.

Amy Oxford (Hooked Rugs Today: Volumes One and Two) was also at this year’s show, as was fellow rug hooker and author Jacqueline Hansen (Sculptured Rugs in Waldoboro Style).

Show co-chairman Sherry Paisley praised this year’s presentation as “the best show ever.

“We had nearly 100 rugs for the display, and this was the second year for the juried presentation, which has taken off on its own,” Mrs Paisley said after the close of the one-day event. “People are doing weird and wonderful things with their hooked creations.”

Liz Fay agreed with Mrs Paisley’s assessment.

“It was busy all day. People are usually lined up at the door when we open, which was the case again, and they stay all day,” she said. “There are things going on all day, and the shopping is great. We have refreshments set up in one corner, so they can have lunch and really make a day with it.”

Show attendees were charged $10 admission each, with the proceeds once again going to benefit Newtown Meeting House Handicapped Entry Fund.