Romancing in Color Rug
Johnny Robinson and Kathy Robinson

I’ve had the same Oriental rug in my front hallway for a thousand years, or so it seems. Now that spring has officially arrived in Wisconsin, I’m prompted to introduce some color into the room that greets the visitors to my home. The new rugs by Johnny and Kathy Robinson just seem to fit the bill!

I view my floors as another opportunity to include art and color in a room. The floor can be so much more than just another bland background on which furniture and objects reside. Lucky for us, today’s fiber artists are weaving their creative ideas into art for the bottom of the room, with artistic sensibilities that range from the colorful and exotic, to the abstract and geometric, to subtle elegance. These rugs are made with a variety of techniques, and are hooked, tufted, sheared, sculpted. And, then there are the painted floorcloths!

A floor is not a floor is not a floor. A floor is what you make it, another tool in the toolbox of creating the artful home.

“Plum Blossom”
Joan Weissman

The artist who conspires to help us create the artful home and life says, “Use my art.” The handwoven rug is, of course, beautiful and beautifully made and could be hung on the wall and viewed as a painting. But the rug was made to be walked on, to warm floors, and to soothe tired feet; it invites us to sit on it with friends, to wrestle on it with grandchildren. Its beauty enhances, rather than interferes, with its function.