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CREATIVE MATTERS' SEBERT TO PRESENT STORY OF CANADA HOUSE RUGS AT IIDEX
The British Columbia room at Canada House in London features a hand-tufted cut pile wool rug by Toronto-based Creative Matters from original artwork Natural Vision by LessLIE. Photography copyright Ben Blossom.
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TORONTO -- Carol Sebert, owner and president of Creative Matters, will be part of a presentation on the refurbishment of Canada House in London at this week's IIDEX Canada show in Toronto. The CEU seminar, entitled, "Telling the Canadian Story through Art and Design," will be held on Dec. 2, 2016 from 1:30p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Speakers include Gordon Campbell, the High Commissioner of Canada to the United Kingdom, and architects and designers from Stantec, the firm responsible for managing the expansion and heritage renewal of Canada Hose, the home of the British High Commission.
Original artwork Natural Vision by LessLIE represents the Coast Salish art of Canada's Northwest coast.
When the 200-year-old UK landmark was reopened in February, 2015 it included 29 rugs from Creative Matters, the studio charged with creating rug designs from contemporary Canadian artwork, and managing their production into hand-tufted rugs. The works of art represented in carpets spanned a variety of themes pertaining to the geography, climate and people of Canada's 10 provinces and 3 territories, and range from mountain cranberries to cicada wings and a traditional Coast Salish design of eagles in a circle to more abstract pieces that focused on the play of flight on snow or the Northern Lights.
"It was a privilege to work with the design team of Stantec and the staff at Canada House whose vision was to showcase Canadian art by transforming works of art into large textile designs," said Sebert. "Imagine the responsibility of recreating the intentions of more than a dozen artists into large hand tufted wool rugs. In more than 25 years, it was by far our most complex project."
Expansive MacDonald room rug transformed for Canada House by Toronto's Creative Matters from original artwork Foothill by Sean William Randall. Hand-tufted of wool with all cut pile. Photo copyright Ben Blossom.
The biggest challenge for the team at Creative Matters was how to achieve the painterly effect which was an important design feature of many of the rugs. Stipples are the best way to achieve this in a hand-tufted 100 percent wool rug, said Sebert. "Rather than specify one color of wool, we create custom color blends by mixing different strands such as that for the carpet for the Pacific Room which required 32 different colors and 37 color blends.
"In addition to our work in the hospitality, corporate and residential sectors, Creative Matters has created floor coverings for more than 30 diplomatic missions around the world," said Sebert, who was present at the grand reopening of Canada House, which was attended by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh.
IIDEX Canada, Canada's National Design and Architecture Exposition & Conference, runs Dec. 2 and 3 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Presented by the Interior Designers of Canada (IDC) and the Architecture Canada | RAIC, IIDEX attracts over 15,000 trade professionals.
The painting Waiting for London by Wayne Boucher and the wool hand-tufted rug realized by Creative Matters for the Pacific Room in Canada House in London.
