Polly Minick started hooking rugs in the late 70’s, she wanted to hook two rugs for their home and quit – no need for lessons or anything, just teach myself to hook, get the rugs she wanted and that would be the end of it. Who would have thought that trying to make those two rugs would lead to this? What she found was that making those two rugs to look like what she had in mind, was going to take a good amount of time. And during the time trying to get those two rugs the way she wanted them to be – she found that she was “hooked.”
Polly and Tom, her husband of 45 years, have three grown sons, three great daughters in law and seven grandchildren. Polly, Tom and their Airedale, Annie live in Naples, Florida. Since she started making rugs – her work received praise from all, thanks to articles in Country Home, Coastal Living, Better Homes and Gardens, Architectural Digest, Victoria, Colonial Homes, Early American Life and American Patchwork and Quilting. The New York Times, Houston Chronicle and the George Towner have also written of Polly’s achievements.
Like many primitive rug hookers, Polly draws inspiration from her love of home, family, country and nature. This shows her imagery which includes stars, hearts, horses, flags and birds. Her patriotic works were inspired with their youngest son Jim was commissioned an officer in the United States Marine Corps; he is currently a Lieutenant Colonel serving in Iraq as a Senior Advisor to the Iraqi Army.
The ambiguity of Polly’s motifs and patterns is understandable given her aim to stick with her goal of making her rugs primitive and naïve. She describes her drawings as “childlike” which places strong emphasis on her respect and appreciation for early-American creations.
Polly’s enthusiasm for the art has led her to national acclaim as a creator of primitive style rugs and has elevated her to guest lecturer, she enjoys traveling the country speaking to others who love this art. She as seen interest in fiber art grow over the years and that is something she is proud of. She has written and published six books on fiber art, the most recent publication “Polly Minick’s Americana Hooked Rug Collection” will be released in the summer of 2007. Polly has engaged in a partnership with her sister Laurie Simpson as a Moda Fabric Designer and they will be included in the new book “Designer Quilts: Great Projects from Moda’s Best Fabric Artists; this book will be released in fall of 2006.
