The making of a rug: our Art Day winner

With the winner having been selected from the Art Day workshops taking place at The Rug Show New York in September, the time has come to follow the design from the drawing board through production in a limited edition of two.

Part of the Creative Matters team led by Carol Sebert (left) and Reto Aschwanden, managing director of Label Step (second from right)

With the winner having been selected from the impressive entries from the Art Day workshops taking place at The Rug Show New York in September, the time has come to follow the design from the drawing board through production in a limited edition of two.

The Art Day sessions were a collaboration between COVER, Canadian rug company Creative Matters, NGO Label Step working for fair trade with handmade carpets, and of course The Rug Show. Visitors, including designers and students, were given the chance to try their hand at rug design in a model tried and tested by Creative Matters when it comes to unlocking creativity.

Amanda Tonelli’s winning Art Day sketch

Designer Amanda Tonelli came out on top with her sketch Structure, a painterly composition in blue tones. The first step towards realising the design has already been taken, with Tonelli’s artwork having been turned into a rug concept that is ready for weaving. Two rugs will now be produced according to this design by Creative Matters, with one piece going to Tonelli and the other set to be raffled at The Rug Show New York 2018, with the proceeds going to Label Step to further the organisation’s important work in rug-producing countries.

Here at COVER, we will be covering the making of the rugs step by step, putting together a design story that we hope will increase the understanding and passion for these outstanding examples of contemporary craftsmanship and design innovation. Watch this space!

The final rug concept created from Amanda Tonelli’s design