Hooking a White Rug, and What Came After

White Fish, 14½" x 13½", #3-cut wool on linen. Designed and hooked by Donna Hrkman, Dayton, Ohio, 2012.

I am always exploring the boundaries of rug making. I frequently wonder, "Why be satisfied with the status quo? Why not step back and look at rugs in a new way?"

I have been fascinated by the power of a line in rug hooking and thought, "How can I show how important line can be to rug hooking designs?" I realized that I would have to make a drastic change in how I approach design. The color we use in rugs is in the lines themselves. Lines equal wool strips in rug hooking, so with every strip or line, we apply color to the composition. Where would we be without colored lines?

Where indeed? I had a flash of inspiration. What if I removed color completely from the equation? What if a line alone could define an image?

This article is from the September/October 2013 issue. For more information on our issues, check out our issues page.