From Doodle to Adaptation

Honoring Karen: Fight against Free Radicals, 12" x 28", #7- and 8-cut wool on burlap. Designed and hooked by Lou Ann Ayres, Papillion, Nebraska, 2014.

Abstract art does not attempt to represent reality, but achieves its effect by using line, shape, pattern, color, and/or texture. The viewer plays a significant role in interpreting abstract art:  one viewer may look at a streaky image and see a rainy window pane, while another may see a field of tall grass. There are degrees of abstraction, and we can see these degrees in the art movements of the last century.

Lou Ann Ayres drew a simple and balanced geometric design which gained significance as she hooked it. “My sister Karen is an artist by training,” Lou Ann said, “and we spent time together talking about the rug. For us, the cluster of circles are the free radicals, and the arrow is the fight against them. The corner triangles represent protection, divinity, and spirit.” 

This article is from the January/February 2015 issue. For more information on our issues, check out our issues page.