
My fibre art expands on traditional hooking techniques with yarn to tell my stories of a modern woman and mother. I am inspired by Nature as a refuge of truth, where beauty exists whether or not you are observant to see it, and strength persists on its own merits, regardless of your opinion of it. I enjoy the potential of the more unconventional side of Nature’s palette, like her browns, greens and yellows, and I am alert to the energy of the electric colours of urban life.
My art changes as I grow; I concern myself with expressing my ideas and not with perfecting how anything is done. I reflect the oppressions of tradition, that art must be done in particular ways, and that as a woman I should live my life in certain ways and be grateful for the appropriate things. I will use anything that I can find at hand and any technique in my fibre art- whether yarn or old beach rope, from weaving or stitching to painting or dyeing- and I will say what I feel about life, motherhood and the environment in which we live. Life can try to pull me back; only I can push myself forward.
Contact Karen at marzipanroad@bell.net
Career Highlights
Major Exhibitions and Awards
- Featured Artist (Ontario Hooking Craft Guild Annual, Ottawa, Ontario, 2018)
- First Place, Original Designs for “A Mother’s Worry” (Ontario Hooking Craft Guild Annual, 2018)
- Three time finalist and one time Honourable Mention in Celebration of Hand-Hooked Rugs, 2013-2017
- Postcards from Newfoundland: Rug-Hooking the Rock (solo exhibition, Corner Brook, Newfoundland, 2015)
- Frame / fraym (solo exhibition with the generous support of ARTicipate grant from the AOE Arts Council, Ottawa, Ontario, 2015)
- Celebrating Colour in Fibre (group exhibition with five other Canadian fibre artists, Toronto, Ontario, 2015)
- Colours Caught in Fibre (group exhibition with four other Canadian fibre artists, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, 2014)
- Viewer’s Choice Award for “Solitude” (Hooked in the Mountains XVI, Shelburne, Vermont, 2012)
Select Publications
- Eyes Open to the World: Memories of Travel in Wool (Ampry Publishing, November 2019). Click to buy on Amazon and at Rug Hooking Magazine.
- Six articles in Rug Hooking Magazine from 2016-2019
- Snapshots from Wonderland: A Walk Through My Garden
- Celebrating My Two Loves: Hooking Portraits in Yarn
- How to Hook With Yarn: Just Do It!
- Postcards from Newfoundland: Island Dreams in Wool
- From Little Hands: Hooking with Children
- Breaking the Frame: Hooking Past My Limits
- Three articles in A Needle Pulling Thread Magazine from 2016-2017
- Artist Review: Twisted
- Artist Review: Through the Trees
- Artist Review: Beyond Swallowtail
- Also featured in Little U Magazine, Uppercase Magazine, Designed by You: Ideas and Inspirations for Rug Hookers (Tamara Pavich, 2017), Celebration of Hand-Hooked Rugs XXIII, XXIV, XXV and XXVII (Debra Smith (editor)), Ontario Hooking Craft Guild magazine, and more.
Teaching and Community Involvement
- Teacher at:
- Fibrefest (Almonte, Ontario, 2018)
- Green Mountain Rug School (Montpelier, Vermont, 2018)
- Ontario Hooking Craft Guild Annual (Ottawa, Ontario, 2018)
- Teacher of beginning and advanced courses for adults from my studio and at guild events since 2015
- Course PDF “Hand Woven and Hand Hooked: Creating Woven Backgrounds for Hooked Fibre Art” available on Etsy here.
- Teacher for children at schools and Scouts Canada events since 2015