Molly White has always enjoyed creating with textiles. Her love of rug hooking began in 2003 when she took Joan Foster’s course at Woody Point and she’d rug hook as a hobby while she and her husband raised three daughters.
Since then, Molly has exhibited her mats from one end of the province to the other including during the “Writers at Woody Point” annual event and at The Rooms in St. John’s. She’s also been fortunate enough to sell some of her beautiful pieces to locals and tourists alike.
With many courses to her credit and her daughters raised and out the door, her hobby became a full time career in creating textile art when in 2006 she opened Molly Made Fibre Art Studio at Woody Point.
Molly’s piece, ‘Cupids 1610-2010’ explains that the name of the island portion of our province became one word and Labrador was eventually included. Blueberries reflect our various forms of nature. The shape behind the berries reminds us that Cupids is situated on the island portion of our province. The rust color may depict our vast quantity of mineral resources, in particular, iron ore on both the island and Labrador. You’ll notice how the sea meets the horizon,
Hooked with yarn the piece is reflective of the Grenfell style of rug hooking. Her half-moon shaped mat depicts the founding and present dates, the first flag and the original name of Cupids – “Cuper’s Cove” and forms the banner for this Cupid’s celebration piece.
Born and raised in Port de Grave, Audrey Burke, a retired teacher, has lived all over our Province including coastal and eastern Labrador. For the past 35 years, she has made her home in Grand Falls-Windsor where she raised three children.
Audrey remembers hearing the stories of her grandmothers ‘matting’ and recalls the mat rags bag in the cabinet under the stairs of her childhood home. In 1997, Audrey learned to rug hook when she took a class being offered by the Guild’s first president, Linda Peckford.
Audrey draws on stories from her childhood in her rug hooking and recalls hearing the local lore of how John Guy, on a stop at Port de Grave, was advised to cross Bay de Grave to the eventual site of his colony, Cuper’s Cove, now Cupids. John Guy is believed to have met up with the Beothuk Indians in 1612 somewhere on the North side of Trinity Bay.
Her mat entitled “Guy’s Beothuk Encounter” is hooked using Briggs and Little 100% wool yarn in primitive fashion and depicts Guy’s first experience with the reclusive Red Indians with whom he shared a meal and traded trinkets for a wolf skin.
Most of us Newfoundlanders, of a certain age, can say we remember our mother hooking a mat when the day’s work was done. Ruth Chaffey, a retired License Practical Nurse, who has served four years as President of our Guild, was an experienced rug hooker long before her mother finally picked up a hook in 2002.
Having taken her first rug hooking class from Linda Peckford in Lewisporte in 1995, Ruth is now working on #64.
Born and raised in Millertown, Ruth settled with her husband and two sons in Lewisporte, where she’s lived for 29 years.
Ruth particularly enjoys researching older traditional Newfoundland and Labrador rugs and reproducing them in hopes of keeping the designs fresh. She has exhibited her mats at various venues and has been fortunate enough to sell some of her pieces. An honorary life-time member of our Guild, Ruth has had her work commissioned to reflect the buildings of Battle Harbour’s historic site in Labrador.
For “Water Boy” Ruth has used new and recycled wool fabric to depict one of the many chores of the early settlers to Cupids. Hooked using a #3 cut, this mat is one of three in this piece which directly relates to the human side of the settling of Cuper’s Cove and shows some of the hardships endured as the settlers strived to stay in the New Founde Land.
Joan Foster, an adult educator in Springdale where she makes her home, first learned to hook mats from her mother in 1979. Since that time, Joan has taken numerous rug hooking courses with her first official class in Nova Scotia with Doris Wentzell in 1993. At Change Islands in 1995, Joan participated in her first official Newfoundland class with Edie Cole, an instructor from Nova Scotia who was invited here to help establish a Guild in this province.
A founding member of the Rug Hooking Guild of Newfoundland and Labrador Joan has served in many capacities on the Executive, including President. During her term as President, she was instrumental in having our book ‘Hooked Mats of Newfoundland and Labrador, Beauty Born of Necessity’ published, of which our Guild is very proud.
This piece ‘Fish on the Flake’ represents the importance of the cod fish and the fishing industry as a whole from the time of early settlement to the present. It is hooked using wool flannel, hand dyed and as is, in #4 and #5 cuts, in an Impressionistic style.
Lynn Palmer of South River fell in love with rug hooking in 1993 upon discovering ‘something’ rolled up in her mother’s linen closet. That something turned out to be a hooked mat depicting the lighthouse at Point Amour in Labrador which was hooked in Grenfell style.
Lynn remembers hearing the stories of how women would gather in her grandmother’s kitchen at the Wireless Station to hook mats and share stories.
In 2001 Lynn learned to rug hook at a class, offered by Joan Foster, in Eastport. Since then, she has taken courses in Fancy Stitches, Fine Shading, Portrait and Monochromatic. This mat is primarily hooked in Monochromatic style with Briggs & Little 100% wool yarn.
Lynn is inspired by all things around her but she has a certain consideration for women and in their ‘getting through’. This mat entitled, ‘Please God!’ needs no explanation.
Lynn has captured what many Newfoundlanders know all too well – watching and waiting to see their ‘man’s’ boat break the horizon, praying he’ll soon be off the water, safe and sound.
Betty Heath, of Lake Elmo, Minnesota, likes to place her initial love of rug hooking squarely in the hands of John Cabot.
On a cruising trip with her husband, Richard, from the far western end of Lake Superior to Newfoundland and Labrador to participate in the 1997 Cabot 500 Celebrations, Betty saw a hooked mat on the floor of another boat.
Feeling their boat, the “P Gannet” needed a mat, she set out to learn more about rug hooking. Her search first took her to the Rug Hooking Magazine which led her to our first Guild President, Linda Peckford. Betty has been a member of our Guild ever since.
A self-taught rug hooker, Betty also enjoys smocking, weaving, carving wooden dolls and, of course, cruising around the lakes and oceans of North America.
Hooked with new and recycled wool fabric in #3 cut, this piece ‘Flags over Cupids’ represents the various forms of government over the community since it was first established in 1610. The background colors represent our tartan. Forming a frame of the mat is a traditional Newfoundland border, of ‘hit and miss’, which has a nautical flair encompassing her love of the water and sailing.
Having raised 6 children Betty and her husband, grandparents to 8 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren, live to travel which brings her back to Newfoundland every year for the annual Rug School where she learns and teaches all in the same moment.
We are pleased to have our Guild’s very special friend from the States represented here in our celebration piece of 400 years of Cupids.
Marilyn Moore says “when I hook rugs, it is always the scenery that attracts me, then the evidence of human occupation”.
As an Anglican Priest, Marilyn has lived in every province, except Prince Edward Island, and in every corner of Newfoundland though not yet in Labrador.
In this piece “Old Boat at Cupids” adapted from a photo, Marilyn has captured a way of life now practically lost. The stage, with its faded paint, the overturned boat left to rot and decay with the flowers and weeds growing around it, and the no longer used make-and-break engine, are all symbols of days gone by. But, Marilyn has also captured the landscape, the beautiful blue sky and the ever present sea in the background.
Some 20 years ago, Marilyn saw samples of Grenfell hooking on the Lower North Shore of Quebec. When she moved to Woody Point in 2005 she learned to hook when she took a class from Molly White. She has enhanced her skills through classes in Creative Stitching, Fine Shading, Pictorial, Grenfell and Celtic styles, many of which she has worked in the piece which is hooked using strips of t-shirt fabric depicting an actual landmark of Cupids.
Jennifer (Archer) Abbott has travelled the world in her work as a successful architect. Born and raised in Ontario, she is, in her words, married to her ‘bayman’ Newfoundlander and quite settled in her Maddox Cove home, near St. John’s.
Jennifer first came to rug hooking when she visited a gallery in Tors Cove and was drawn to a hooked mat hanging on the wall.
Mostly self taught, Jennifer has a passion for rug hooking that has garnered first prize in a challenge mat competition offered by the Guild. She’s also placed her mats for exhibit and has been fortunate enough to sell some of the 60 mats she’s hooked since that first trip to the Southern Shore just a few short years ago.
In her rug hooking, Jennifer draws from anywhere and everywhere to create the designs for her mats. Her work ranges from classical to whimsical while some are traditional or fairy-tale like.
For this piece “Spectacle (of fish) Head (s)”, Jennifer is inspired by the gratitude Newfoundland’s heritage holds for the fishery which allowed the first English settlers to survive here at Cupids.
If you look closely, you’ll see the cod fish which form the landscape of Spectacle Head at Cupids – a literal translation of the heritage and colony that was built on/of cod. You will also see the teeming schools of fish in the water.
Hooked in a #3 cut of wool fabric dyed to reflect the various blues of the sky and fall of the year, when some say cod fish tastes the sweetest, Jennifer has captured what Newfoundland history is known for and coupled it with her talent to draw.
Jackie Alcock was born, raised and has lived her entire life in Corner Brook, the only one of nine children to remain near to their roots.
While she did work outside the home in her earlier years, her love and gift for the Arts enabled her to stay at home and, with support from her husband Gary, raise their three children.
Jackie obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2008 and has always looked for the female connection in her work. So, it wasn’t surprising when her research of Cupids history led to the “First Child”.
To be the first recorded in history of anything is always remarkable. But to be the first recorded European child of English Descent born in Cuper’s Cove in the New Founde Land was indeed an important event.
Record keeping of this time period was at a minimum. Such information as the sex of the child or the mother’s name was not considered important. Known only as a child of the man claiming paternity, this birth also holds the distinction of being the first recorded European child of English descent born in Canada.
In 1613, just three years after the initial arrival, the birth of this child must have been cause for great celebration. As, surely, these early pioneers must have felt they’d finally arrived!
Only a rug hooker since late 2008 when she took a course by Beverly Neville in Corner Brook, Jackie has hooked this piece in primitive style using 100% wool yarn depicting the early pioneer woman holding her child with the rolling hills and sea in the background.
Soon after Confederation, there was a noticeable shift in Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans moving away from skilled crafts. The province feared losing a generation of knowledgeable craftspeople.
In the early 70’s, Anna Templeton of St. John’s was assigned the task of resourcing skilled craftspeople to teach others who would then go throughout the province re-introducing crafts such as weaving, knitting, rug hooking, etc.
Anna invited her niece, Margaret Angel (known to us simply as ‘Angel’) to attend the class. With her grandmother’s hook in hand, Angel set off to see what it was all about.
Since this first class in 1975, Angel has studied under textile artists in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, British Columbia and Hawaii. She has not only taught her mother to hook but Angel has been juried by the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador, sold some of her pieces and won awards for others.
The youngest of five children and mother of two grown children, Angel hails from a long line of women interested in history, crafts and the Arts. Able to draw from a background of photography, visual arts training, her love for the country, and her work at The Rooms, Angel uses a variety of fabrics to create her mats. She’s even incorporated odd mittens, resulting in beautiful pieces for the wall, floor, benches and stools.
Hooked with 100% wool, hand dyed and recycled, in the design of “Leaded Diamond Window” Angel shows the actual size of the pane fragments found at the Cupids archaeological site, reflective of the artefact believed to be the first window glass found in Newfoundland and dates to 1610.
The diamond design complements the medium of rug hooking as diamonds and geometrics are one of the traditional patterns used in rural Newfoundland, dating back to our earliest records of mat making.
The free flowing landscape through the window is indicative of her personal style of design and shows the Cupids headland with a rich bog and rock landscape in the foreground. In contrast, the window pane ‘reflects’ the habitation of settlers.
We are pleased to have the Archivist of our Guild participate in this Cupids 400 Celebration piece.
Co-chairs:Jennifer Button and Winnie Glavine
Committee Members: Margaret Angel , Judy Brockie and Diana Dove
RUG HOOKING GUILD OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
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This project was supported by:
McInnes Cooper,an Atlantic based Law Firm with
an office in St. John’s NL
To view the slide show of the completed mats, click here