Nativity Triptych

The Triptych. Designed by Håkon Hensvold and hooked by Brigitte Webb, Dingwall, Scotland, 2018.

In October 2017, I was asked by my friend Håkon Gron Hensvold if I was up for a challenge. I had recently completed a rug, which happened to be one of his designs. Håkon is an  exciting, creative artist/rug hooker and his work is amazing and very distinctive. I believe his work and talent should be shared with the wider rug-hooking fraternity.

Always up for a challenge, I said, “Yes, please!” Håkon sent me a picture of a Triptych Nativity he had designed, which I instantly fell in love with. He drew it up on linen backing for me.

This was a challenge on multiple levels: I have not hooked three linked rugs before (challenge #1); he asked if I would hook them to his color plan (challenge #2); he requested that I not use too much black (challenge #3). I asked if he had pastel colors in mind. He replied no: “Strong brights mixed in with dulls.” The pattern arrived on Friday, November 10.

Håkon projects his images onto a wall for transferring, and in so doing, the design I received was reversed. Also there were small differences in the designs themselves compared to the pattern I received. My first request was to ask if I could hook the designs as three separate rugs instead of one very large rug—that would make them easier for me to display. Håkon agreed. This decision meant there would not be enough space for similar sized borders, so I redrew the central Madonna onto a new piece of linen backing, giving me the extra space I needed for The Shepherds and The Three Kings.