Halifax artist puts modern twist on centuries-old rug hooking craft

She’s hooked!: NS fibre artist is in the loop Fibre artist Hannah Eidson uses traditional rug hooking to make modern art.

A Halifax fibre artist is putting her own modern twist on the centuries-old craft of rug hooking.

What started as a part-time hobby for Hanna Eidson has turned into a full-time gig thanks to the pandemic.

“I bought my first tufting gun probably April of 2020 with my CERB cheque because I had lost my job from bartending,” Eidson said.

Turning craft into commerce, her business, H.H. Hooks, exploded online.

“I think my style of art kind of struck a nerve of what people were looking for during COVID when everyone was sort of sad,” she said.

“I think that like, bright, colourful, sort of quirky things had really come into fashion.”

While the simple techniques of rug hooking haven’t changed, the tools have.

Eidson’s tufting gun replicates the hand-hooked effect, at a much faster rate.

The piece of equipment lets her push the boundaries of her art, like making complex, large-scale portraits, whimsical designs and even tongue in cheek décor.

“Making something that’s a bit out of the realm of what people expect,” said Eidson.

Recently, she’s started making 3-D pieces, like canned goods and milk cartons.

Eidson says she finds the repetitive nature of her craft relaxing.

She also gets others hooked with social media tutorials on how to create their own carpet-like crafts.

“I think it’s really fun to see it sort of getting a new life, with a new generation of people that are coming at it with a new perspective and new designs.”