Next Rug

Here is my new rug project.

A few years ago, my husband and I visited Italy ... our first European adventure! One of the highlights of the trip was visiting Rome, and of course, that meant an excursion to the Vatican. I got to see masterpieces of art that I never expected to see: The Pieta, The Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, and with a visit to the Vatican Museums countless works of art by the most famous of artists. I think the most inspiring painting I saw was "The Transfiguration" by Raphael. It was showcased in a large room, one that was actually quite dark. Here is my photo:

Part of the Vatican Museums is devoted to cemetery/funereal artifacts. They were so interesting, and the carvings were amazing. Here are three in particular:

The first photo of this trio is the one I was intrigued with. I thought the image lent itself to a rug design. So, I placed my photo in Adobe Illustrator, traced the image (very rough trace), adjusted to my finished size and printed it. From there, I traced it onto white linen and started staring at it!

I wasn't sure what colors I wanted to use, so I printed some small versions of the rug, got out my trusty colored pencils and worked on a number of color variations. I finally decided to work in browns, creams, grays and greens.

Here is the rug in progress:

Some of the wool used in this rug:

Walnut Grove

Winter Tracks