Rug hooking is her passion. Deanne grew up in Freshwater, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, the youngest of seven children. Her mother and both of her grandmothers hooked rugs as a past time, and as a chore of necessity. By the time she was born her grandmothers had died and my mother had long since abandoned rug hooking as a chore of poverty. In Newfoundland in the late sixties, and early seventies very few people were hooking, though there was still a scattered mat hanging about peoples back doors. For the most part it was out with the old and in with the new.

Deanne learned to hook rugs because she wanted rugs for an old farmhouse where she had settled. It began as a purely practical craft and later turned into an art. Each time she makes a rug she creates a new design. Many of her pieces tell stories or express ideas about the world. She works full time as a rug hooking artist. She uses recycled cloth, gathers old wool clothing from real people in real communities. The clothes are washed, dried and torn apart. It is then hooked loop by loop on a a backing of burlap or linen.

This amazing exhibit is now on display for your enjoyment at the J. Franklin Wright Gallery. Monday to Friday 4:00-9:00 and Saturday to Sunday 10:00-4:00. For more information on Deanne's work - www.hookingrugs.com