Take two nationally known, talented artists - one a painter, the other a designer/creator of hand hooked rugs and needlepoint- and have them meet in their Yorktown studio/stores. The result: first a mutual admiration society and then striking rugs by Claire Murray that accurately depict the artwork of Yorktown artist Nancy Thomas.
Here's how it happened. Murray came to Yorktown last spring for a meet and greet at her shop. Thomas, a longtime fan, went to meet her. "I was so honored," Thomas recalls. "I invited her to my gallery. She loved my artwork and immediately wanted to work together with me on some rugs. She wanted to call the company Kindred Spirits."
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Murray picked the artwork she wanted to hook into rugs and began working. The Fat Rabbit was the first rug. It shows a young girl in a garden holding...(you guessed it) a fat rabbit.
The first samples were ready last fall and the first rugs of the Kindred Spirits collection were available at the end of 2008. The collection includes 16 rugs depicting Thomas' art. Other top sellers include Bon Appetit, showing a chef with fresh produce; Men of Vision, showing the founding fathers; and Angel on Lamb - self-explanatory. The collection also includes two Santa’s, two with cat themes and one dog. You can also get matching ceramic figures to go with your prints and rugs. |
-Karen Haywood Queen
Thomas has been impressed with how precisely Murray translates paint colors onto thread. "I mix colors, I blend them,” Thomas says. “Sometimes I go from a dark blue or dark green and grade it to a gray blue or gray green. Claire is very meticulous. She picks her own thread. If she can't find the right color, she'll have it dyed to that color.
She captured everything. It was amazing. It shocked me because it was so well done- every little nuance, every little shadow. It's fascinating to me to see my artwork that's flat transformed into all these other mediums such as hooked rugs and ceramics."
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Interested? Nancy Thomas Gallery, 145 Ballard St., Yorktown, 757-898-0738, and 407 Duke of Gloucester St., Williamsburg, 757-259-1938. Claire Murray Store, 328 Water St., Yorktown, 757-877-3353
www.clairemurray.com 1-866-868-7001 |
