‘Oi!’ – Hand Tufted Wool Rug – Collaboration Artwork

Not so long ago I teamed up with Andrew Warburton of Area Rugs www.arearugs.co.uk

Andrew is a highly skilled and experienced carpet maker using hand-tufting methods in the production of his carpets and rugs. He has been designing and making unique and exclusive hand-tufted rugs and carpets since graduating in 1988 with a first class honours degree in carpet design.

He was intrigued by the style and technique of my illustrations and thought that they would transfer well into a carpet design. He had seen an illustration of mine called ‘Oi!’ that he thought would work well and that would be both quirky and impacting. Andrew set to on interpreting the image with pure wool. The results are below.

The design is first sketched out to scale.

The wool is then worked into a type of man-made muslin cloth!

When the tufting process is finished the topside is then cropped to get an even pile.

This is done with a machine that works a little like a lawnmower.

Rugs can also be carved and sculptured by using a carving machine a little like the clippers used to sheer sheep.

When the rug has gone through all these processes it is then backed with a natural latex and hessian.

Rug Entitled: Oi!

Size: 1.7 by 1.2 Metres.

The result was absolutely outstanding. Andrew made an incredibly accurate interpretation of the original design, I’m sure you will agree!