Mary Magdalene

Dimensions: 40" x 30"
Materials: #6-cut hand-dyed new wool on linen
Designed and hooked by April DeConick, Houston, Texas, 2013.
Featured in: Celebration XXIV

Instead of taking her work home with her, April DeConick takes her art to work. "I am a professor in the Religious Studies Department of Rice University," she says. "When I became chair of the department this year, I wanted to have in my office the presence of a woman that I could look up to for inspiration. So I created Mary Magdalene, the one whom Jesus calls in the Dialogue of the Savior 'the woman who knows all,' and now she prominently hangs above my desk."

As a new technique to try, April worked to incorporate false colors into the rug, particularly in the shadows. "I wanted to play with greens and see what effect they might have," she says. "What I learned is that green is difficult to use. A little goes a long way. But it is well worth the effort because it brightens shadow areas in ways that cooler colors like blue and purple do not."
- April DeConick, Celebration Hall of Fame 2018
(Note: This rug description was taken as an excerpt from the published Celebration entry.)