Give a Gift
This was my first time hooking a face, and I was totally intimidated by even the thought of it. I practiced noticing skin tones and values by painting the portrait in watercolor first. It actually looked pretty good, so that gave me confidence to try hooking it. As I did, I was going through some personal stuff and could barely concentrate. So, I just hooked rather intuitively, and I think it turned out well, partially because I didn’t overthink it.
When I showed people my design, several commented that I should leave the background plain and simple. So, after hooking the face, I contemplated doing just that. But I love flowers and butterflies. As soon as I had hooked one butterfly, I was so happy that I knew I had to hook the rest. It may not be everyone’s style, but I had to follow my heart. This piece taught me to stop overthinking and to listen to my intuition.
I used wool dyed especially for this project for the face. At first, I thought there weren’t enough dark values, but I found that a face usually doesn’t have a lot of contrast. For the rest of the piece, I used as much textured wool as possible because I love the depth that textured wool creates. I did have to use dyed wool for bright colors because most textured wool is more muted. Using a combination of textured and dyed wool as well as a mixture of strip sizes creates a look that I like. I used as many leftover worms from other projects as I possibly could in the hair, flowers, and butterflies.
It is difficult for me to choose a favorite part of this piece. I love how the face turned out, and the flowers and butterflies always make me happy. But I guess I’d choose the hair, since that was super fun to hook, and I created the movement that I wanted in it.
To finish the rug, I folded the edges and whipped them with black wool yarn. That created a nice frame for the piece. Then, I printed a label on printable fabric and sewed it to the back. The label includes the design name, designer, hooker, date, and place, as well as a paragraph about the piece.
Hooking this rug taught me that even if a subject totally intimidates me, I should just work through it. It is all about using the right values in the right places and hooking what you see and not what you think should be there. At one point, I had a much darker value for the line going from the nose to the mouth. After looking at the reference photo more, I realized that even though there was a darker value there, it wasn’t significantly darker. Once I replaced it, I was amazed at the difference. I also learned that teeth are hard, but again, they were brought into submission through really observing how much detail was actually in the photo rather than what I thought should be there.
From the Judges:
Butterfly Girl’s skin tones are soft and natural, creating beautiful realism. The floral background provides an eye-catching contrast to the subject’s natural skin and hair tones, and the butterflies add vibrancy without overpowering the central figure.
Butterfly Girl: A Self-Portrait, 19″ square, dyed and off-the-bolt wool on linen. Designed and hooked by Janine Broscious, Green Cove Springs, Florida, 2024.
GREEN COVE SPRINGS, FLORIDA
Janine is a fiber artist and painter who travels full time in her RV with her husband. She loves meeting fellow artists as she explores the country and teaches others creative freedom.