Lady in Water, 19″ x 24″, wool rug-weight yarn, angora yarn, and merino yarn on linen. Designed and hooked by Betsy Archer, Asheville, North Carolina, 2010.
When we look at the image of a woman standing in the surf we feel the pull of summer, even on the coldest winter day.
When Betsy Archer began hooking this rug, her first hooked piece, she shook off the winter chill by letting a photograph pull her back to a moment in time. Betsy is a professional photographer, and she recalled a moment walking along the beach by the Mediterranean Sea in Tel Aviv, Israel. She saw an older woman wading in the water, her arms lifted slightly toward the sky. At that moment, she believed she was watching an Everywoman moment of contentment and joy. She wanted to record what was visible: the sun warming the woman’s face and upper body, the warm water bathing her legs.
Lady in Water, Tel Aviv, Israel. PHOTOGRAPH BY BETSY ARCHER
Betsy began rug hooking when Northampton, Massachusetts, organized an open studio tour and she saw rugs made by Margaret Arraj of Mill River Rugs. Betsy took a class from Arraj and learned to hook rugs by pulling yarn through a fabric foundation. Arraj gave Betsy a Joan Moshimer hook. When Betsy pondered a design for her first rug, she quickly decided that her photograph, “Lady in Water, Tel Aviv, Israel,” would be her guide.
Archer has since completed her sixth rug, always working from her own photographs and always hooking with yarn. Hooked versions of her photographic images permit her to render the subject in fiber textures and allow her to think about the subject anew.