Louisa Creed

I took up rag rug-making when I was 50, after a visit to a museum where two old rag rugs were on display. I remember wondering why they were no longer made. Of course the answer was that central heating, wall-to-wall carpeting and changing circumstances and attitudes had, more or less, put an end to this traditional craft.I little knew that I was in on the beginning of a rag rug revival which continues to gain popularity, chiefly in this country, the USA and Canada, but increasingly worldwide.

I first found a hook and a piece of Hessian and began to experiment with the techniques of hooking strips of recycled cloth through Hessian. I had no idea that others were doing the same, and nor did it occur to me to seek advice or look for books on the subject.

After a career in music (flute-playing and teaching) it was a great delight to work in colours and textures - visual ones, that is - and to make things that I could see and feel.

It was only after two or three years that I gained enough experience and confidence to design my own pictorial map. I was brought up in a family of painters and textile designers, and this has proved to be of enormous advantage to me, although I have never had any formal art training. In some ways I am glad I didn't, as I have enjoyed making my own discoveries, freshly and compulsively.Cats and landscapes continue to be my favourite subjects, but in recent years I have done a good bit of travelling, and the places I have visited have sometimes set me off on a series of mats. Ideally I would like to make enormous mats, but this is too impractical, so I explore themes by doing different aspects of the same subject or place.

Contrary notion: as my body becomes more limited my ideas expand?