2003 'Little Mabel'; adapted from a Photograph, designed & hooked by Laura w.Pierce

mabel

Wine Country Rug Hookers invited Elizabeth Black to teach 2 workshops in June 2003.   Since Elizabeth is a Master of hooking animals, everyone was excited about creating animal patterns.   I decided to use an old photograph that my great grandmother, Mary Scofield Sloan, took of my grandmother, Mabel Sloan Webber.   Mary used Mabel as a model in many of her photographs in the late 1800's.   As a photographer, I wanted to honor my great grandmother.

Originally, I planned to hook the whole photograph which included a covered bridge in the background.  Elizabeth quietly suggested that it was too much, so I took her advice and cropped the photograph to emphasize Mabel.  The photograph is sepia toned and I wanted to add color, so I used color photos of our daughter Emma Rose when she was around the same age as Mabel. I also used photos of the Consumnes River in the Gold Country foothills to help me create sky reflecting water.  Many tweeds were used to create the rocky shore.

'Little Mabel' was selected for Celebrations XIV!