HOOKED UP

27 - 28 APRIL 4 - 6 MAY 25 - 27 MAY 10 - 4PM

Sue Marsdon, rag rug maker

Jacqueline Robins, printmaker

Cathy D’arcy, ceramic artist

Elly Robinson, rag rug maker

Sue Marsdon

I studied painting at Bath Academy of Art. I have long had a love of drawing and set up a life class when l moved to Sudbury in the late 1980's. It is still running, held now at Gainsborough's House.

I have been making rag rugs, or 'hookies', for several decades now, first learning at Denman College. 

Sometime later l was pleased to discover that rag rugs were made by some of the Great Bardfield artists and this inspired me to base several of mine on their prints, those of Edward Bawden in particular lend themselves to rug designs. I do like a cat on a mat.

Jacqueline Robins

I have been a printmaker for the past 15 years, after a long career in education. Printmaking allows the unpredictable and unexpected to happen. Although my prints are inspired by a ‘sense of place’ my emphasis is on texture and abstraction. I tend to print quite instinctively and freely, building compositions as I go. I enjoy the juxtaposition of geometric shape with visual texture. My prints and collaged prints are invariably made up of many layers and incorporate multiple techniques - each layer a response to the previous one.

Cathy D’arcy

My journey from studying textiles at art college and specialising in hand woven floor rugs, and then returning to college 20 years later to study ceramics has been full of excitement, optimism (occasionally disappointment/disaster) and new found knowledge. My creative adventure continues to fill my life.

Elly Robinson

I studied graphic design at St. Martin’s in the swinging sixties and worked as a  freelance illustrator and designer till I moved to Sudbury in 1983, where I met Sue Marsdon, who not only showed me how to make rag rugs, but also gave me a frame and a hook to get me started. I joined Gainsborough’s House print workshop, took to screen printing, designing and hand-printing a range of cards, helping with organizing exhibitions and later led to ten years running Printworks, a gallery in Colchester specializing in original prints. In 2002 I moved to Wivenhoe, where I continued to organize all kinds of crafts exhibitions. Started to write and perform poetry while continuing to make rag rugs, often inspired by my interest in packaging design. In 2010 I returned to Sudbury where the eleven charity shops provide me with the materials – old tee shirts – to recycle into colorful rugs. I draw my design onto hessian sacking stretched over a wooden frame and cut the tee shirts  into long strips which I hook through the hessian. Each rug takes about a month from start to finish.