STRAWBERRY SCULPTURE -

Early in September I was scheduled to teach a sculpting class at the Grant Street Woolworks, however Linda decided to cancel the class due to lack of registration. Several of the ladies contacted me and really wanted the class.

Soooo with very little time to pull it together I decided to give this workshop in my home. I have done a number of workshops here in the past and know that my space allows for 7/8 students at the most. I prefer to have only 6 so that we are not so crowded. In a short time I had 6 registered for the class. This is the finished sample of the piece that we worked on. The strawberries and the leaves are all sculpted. I furnished each person with a folder that included instructions to complete the piece, a color photo of the finished product and a short history of sculpting, as well as all of the materials to do the strawberries and the leaves. Background was up to the individual.

Elinor, Syd and Pat hard at work.

Ellen and Pat working away. On the table is the sample and some of Pat's wool ready to be used. Sculpting is designed to be done with a number 3 cut. In order to save time I cut one strip of each of the three colors used in this piece and included it in the kit.

Pat W. really took to this type of hooking. Here she is working away and smiling at the results.

Ellen was so intent on what she was doing. You can see that she is almost ready to start sculpting this strawberry.

The class was from 10 in the morning till 2 in the afternoon. By lunchtime everyone had finished hooking their strawberry and had it sculpted. I thought that was in record time. By 2 everyone had accomplished the big blue green leaf with turnover, a little tricky to do the turnover, and had sculpted it. A very successful class!

Following are a few examples of items done with the sculpting technique.

I enlarged the strawberry pattern, then put fray check around the edges, cut it out and mounted it on this canvas tote.

A slightly different arrangement of the strawberry and leaves, mounted on stiff felt, and clasp pin added and lo and behold! a nice pin for a lapel.

This is a large wall hanging that I have shown before. I sculpted Kris Kringle's beard, mustache, and the fur on his gown.

This purse sports a sculpted rose with a mottled dark blue background. I find it hard to photograph sculpted work. I never seem to get enough dimension in the photo - but I hope you can get the idea. This piece happens to be a very deep sculpture in order to capture the layers of the rose.

This photo is of the basket of apples that I sculpted in another wall hanging that I hooked.

This picture taken at a different angle gives a little better idea of the depth of the sculpture.

Sculpting is only one facet of rug hooking. It goes by different names in different parts of the world. If you live in Canada you probably call this "hoving." If you live in New England you refer to this as the "Waldaboro Style of hooking." Elsewhere in the U.S. it is simply refered to as sculpting. This style of hooking uses an enormous amount of wool but the final effect is worth not only the effort, but the time and material, also.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope you have enjoyed this tour thru my sculpting class and that you take the time to try this method of hooking.

Doris