Deanne Fitzpatrick: The Artist Behind the Mat

Deanne Fitzpatrick is an artist who creates hooked rug inspired by her life in the Canadian Atlantic areas of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Shehas a rug hooking studio in downtown Amherst, Nova Scotia where she shows and sells her one of a kind hooked rugs, creates rug hooking kits, patterns, hosts workshops, and sells supplies. It is a big creative space with a dye kitchen in the back where Deanne transforms old clothes and fancy wools into hooked rugs. In this warm colourful space Deanne also writes books on rug hooking, and creates the designs for her kits and patterns. You allprobably think we’re going to spend an hour talking about rug-hooking, but as I discovered when reading her book, Inspired Rug-Hooking: Turning Atlantic Canadian Life into Art, the mechanics and how-to of hooking a rug take a backseat to the wisdom Deanne shares about creating in any form.