A bit about us and what to expect

We would like to introduce you to our rag-rug courses, and tell you a little about ourselves and what to expect.

I (Louisa) began to make rag rugs 16 years ago when, unknown to me, the revival of this craft was in its infancy. My enthusiasm was sparked off by a traditional example in a museum, and I thought to myself: Why are these apparently no longer made?" So I just began to hook, learning the hard way with the wrong hessian and the wrong hook, but these experiences, though rather laborious, ere better that any art-school training! My view is that where a creative desire exists, it will, willy nillly, find ways to be expressed, and that it is better to discover what is inside oneself, that to be told what to do.

Glenda, who was fired with this craft a few years later, is in agreement with my philosophy, and has cast around through various styles, before settling for a while on her current one. She was born with feeling for textiles, which has found expression through knitting, dressmaking and various other media. Rag rugs now take up all the time she can set aside for her textile work.

Lewis watched me (his wife) hooking with sustained eagerness over 12 years. He attempted one or two small projects, but ended them by saying: "This is not for me". Then suddenly he decided to hook an owl. This owl fired him and led to many bird and animal designs. He is a quick, neat worker and suffers less from self-doubt than either Glenda or myself at the beginning stages of a rug. He sweeps through everything with humour and panache! In four years he has made forty rugs!

In short, we are three individualists, with totally different styles and techniques, who nevertheless work very much as a team, exhibiting and giving workshops together.

Our aim is to help you find new directions to the skills you already have; maybe to loosen up a little here, or modify there, to be bolder or less brash with colours or to try hooking or prodding without a frame (None of us uses a frame.)

If there are any beginners among you, we can certainly accommodate them.

We will bring as many examples of our work as Glenda's car will allow, and share our experiences with you. We will bring a roll of hessian and spare hooks and, we hope. Plenty of inspiration.

The workshop/course will be a creative process with no set form, so please come in a flexible frame of mind with your usual tools, some materials you would like to work with, and perhaps some of your work to show us.

We look forward to meeting you at one of our courses, and the opportunity for exchanging and stimulating one another.

Also see Listen To Your Rugs: Louisa Creed's approach to rag rug hooking, an article from Rug Hooking Magazine.

Rosie in the
Airing Cupboard
The first rag rug
I made to my
own design.
1989

Lewis and Louisa Making Rag Rugs
1999

Penultimate Dodo
Lewis Creed
2001

Detail of a rag rug. Click on the image to see the complete rug.

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Louisa Creed
York, UK, 2001-2018