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Artist's Route
Hélène Gallant is well into her 70's and rug hooking is still something
that she fully enjoys. She hooks for about 3 hours each day.
Hélène discovered rug hooking at the Egmont Bay Agricultural Exhibition
near her home in PEI when she was 13 years old. That was where she
got a close look at the hooked rugs made by Emilienne Gallant, who
became her idol.
When Hélène tried it herself, using a homemade frame and hook,
she found it a real challenge at first.
She used lots of rags for hooking material and burlap from two
potato bags sewn together for the base of her first project. To
her surprise, she was able to trade that rug to a peddler from Montreal
in exchange for some oilcloth to cover the wooden floor boards of
their house.
She started to get recognition for her efforts in the early 1960's
when she was in her mid-thirties.
Hélène received a lot of support and encouragement from Island
historian Father Adrien Arsenault when they met in 1967. Years later
Father Arsenault organized a solo exhibition of thirty of her rugs.
She finds inspiration for her designs from traditional patterns,
from other art work and from her desire to create something new.
She always enjoys seeing a finished work for the first time.
Hélène has advice for would-be rug hookers and that's "if you have
the desire and a good hand, go for it!".
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