The words home & hearth come to mind when one sees Suzette Krummel’s wool-and-blanket penny rugs and wool appliques. They have such a soul-satisfying quality about them. Suzette, a former member of Alliance Art Gallery, returns as our Second Saturday featured artist for December.
The timing couldn’t be better as Christmas, and gift giving, approaches. What, you may ask, is a “penny rug”? Wikipedia succinctly explains that, “In the 1800s, starting around the time of the Civil War, thrifty homemakers would use scraps of wool or felted wool from old clothing, blankets and hats to create designs for mats or rugs. ... Sometimes a penny was stitched inside the mat to make it lie flat.”
Suzette realized she was a born “needle worker” when she ordered a crewel embroidery kit from a magazine at age ten. After that, a needle never left her hand. Coupled with her love of antiques and folk art, penny rugs and appliqued pieces seemed an inevitable outcome. Each created piece blends warm colors, rich designs, and practical use. Dying her “fulled” wools with natural or purchased dyes, using everything from marigolds to onion skins, pansies to pokeberries, Suzette cuts each piece and stitches by hand to make a one-of-a-kind design.
As a folk artisan, she ranks top in her field of handcrafted wool textiles, with a clear mastery of this art form as she embraces heritage techniques and quality workmanship, according to the Directory of Traditional American Crafts and Early American Life Magazine. She often exhibits at folk life festivals and art fairs in the Midwest, and belongs to the Great River Artisans in Quincy, Illinois.
For the many people who have enjoyed Suzette’s unique art when she was a member—and for those who love creating a warm welcoming home environment, make sure to visit the Alliance Art Gallery in December to see “what’s new” in her handcrafting world.
The Alliance Art Gallery invites you to enjoy its opening reception honoring Suzette Krummel’s work, on Saturday, December 10, from 5:00 until 8:00 PM. This reception coincides with Hannibal’s Second Saturday Gallery Night.
Throughout the month, the member artists at the Alliance Art Gallery will be featuring unique, holiday gift giving ideas in every price range, from jewelry to pottery, scarves, original art, photography, inlaid woodwork, books and—yes, gift certificates.
Artists create beauty as a way of gifting the world; those who buy art create gifts-of-love for those they cherish. May this season allow beauty and love to nourish and nurture one another.
