Friends of Prospect Lake
PANOPLY
"THE ARTIST IS NOT A DIFFERENT KIND OF PERSON,
BUT EVERY PERSON IS A DIFFERENT KIND OF ARTIST." Eric Gill
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When trying to describe the vast number of creative thinkers and practitioners who make their homes in our little community in the Berkshires, words like diverse, varied, and unique come to mind. What also comes to mind is the recognition that art is not confined to traditional methods, materials, or genres. It is as varied and unique as we are as individuals, each of us contributing our own point of view of the world in which we live.
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This season, the Friends of Prospect Lake is very happy to share the exceptional work of local fiber artist
Liz Marino. Her lush and beautiful hooked rugs and other fiber pieces are a testament to the individuality of every artist and the work they share with the world. Liz Marino lives with her husband Tom in South Egremont on the llama Farm.
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Liz Marino is a traditional rug hooking artist from South Egremont. She was first introduced to rug hooking 20 years ago when she happened on a local rug hooking show by Ronnie Roisman and her students at Guidos. She began to study with Ronnie and knew this was the craft and art form she had been waiting for. Liz received her McGown Teachers’ Certification in 1999 and her Ontario Hooking Craft Guild Teachers Certification in 2016. She has taught at the Pearl K McGown National Show in Michigan and for guilds and rug camps. Liz currently holds the position as Chairman of Communications as well as the Webmaster for the Pearl K. McGown Guild Hookrafters. Her work has been feature in Rug Hooking Magazine, Celebrations, ATHA, The Pearl K McGown Newsletter, is a Hall Of Fame Rug Hooker and is was part of the Exploring the Tarot, 23 Artists Hook the Major Arcana shown in the US and Canada.
Liz is known for her love of translating photographs into hooked pieces and her sepia tone work. She likes to work closely with her students to create memorable pieces, this can involve helping to choose the pattern, or photograph to draw the pattern from. Her interest is helping to teach her students to create a mood and how to really see what is happening in nature and the visual aid.
Liz teaches tradtional rug hooking out of her studio in South Egremont.
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Photos by Jane McWhorter
Left: FLIGHT, H 23" x W 26"
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Right:
Deere & Co 200 Years Of Progress, H 37" x W 23"
I hooked this piece for my husband from an old Deere & Co poster, with permission from the Company’s Reference Archivist. It taught me a lot about color and value, and also how to make mist out of bits of wool. I am grateful for lessons learned while hooking a new piece.
Left: The Lovers Tarot Card, H 42" x W 24"
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Right:
Martellotti Family Picnic Circa 1928, H 28" x W 34"
This rug is from a photograph of my husband’s family, taken during a family picnic in Brooklyn, NY, in 1928. I dyed 52 different values of sepia tone wool to create this piece.
Left:
Coco Llama, H 23" x W 20"
Our herd Matriarch, Coco, was a sweet kind soul. She was my first
attempt to hook a realistic animal.
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Right: This Land Is Made For You And Me, H 22" x W 22"
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Fraktur Chair (front, back)
I love American Fraktur work and designs. I bought this comfortable chair at a tag sale at Brookside Quiltworks in South Egremont. The design speaks of motherhood and union, and was inspired when my daughter Molly had her first child.
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CAUGHT, H 22" x W 16.5"
Leaving My Mark, H 20" x W 24"
I created my thumbprint rug when we began to socially isolate because of covid. I went to our North Egremont police station four times to find an officer at the 8 AM shift change. When I finally found an officer there, I told him that I had an odd question. He said he doubted I could shock him. I asked if he’d fingerprint me so that I could create a hooked rug of my thumbprint, and he admitted that that was about as strange as it gets. He thumb-printed my right thumb, and I made my rug pattern from it. To me, the pattern signifies that I’m leaving my print -- that I was here and that I matter.
THE FRIENDS OF PROSPECT LAKE ONLINE GALLERY WELCOMES EXHIBIT INQUIRIES FROM LOCAL ARTISTS OF ALL STRIPES. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SHARING YOUR WORK WITH OUR COMMUNITY, PLEASE CONTACT US AT