The Fifth Wall

Handmade area rugs are both artful and functional

As seen in The Toronto Star

 

Anne Star and her husband Jeffrey Schwartz have seven pieces of fine art in their 6,000 sq. ft. Forest Hill home. There is one piece for every principal room. Each one is handmade and extremely intricate; some took years to complete.

 

On a typical day at the Schwartz household, the couple’s three daughters, ages 10, 14 and 16, stampede across the family heirlooms. And at some point, the family dog will stretch and yawn and settle in for a comfy nap – right on top. Even Anne and Jeffrey walk all over them.

Is this any way to treat precious pieces of art?

 

When it’s art for the fifth wall, it’s the only way.

 

“That’s the beauty of quality, handmade rugs,” says interior designer Robyn Clarke, of Toronto-based Robyn Clarke Interiors, who purchases many rugs for her clients at Weavers Art on Davenport. “We do all sorts of things to them and they keep their shape.

 

“At the same time,” she continues, “they are works of art. The finer rugs have extremely complex designs; the detail and work that goes into them is incredible. And the combination of the colours can be quite striking.”

 

Some pieces are so exquisite you’d swear they belong in a museum. And some, in fact, do.

Alan Pourvakil, founder and design director of W Studio on Dupont, has designed a series of carpets in partnership with Renaissance ROM, the Royal Ontario Museum’s ongoing expansion and renovation project.

 

Currently, six W Studio carpet designs (11 carpets in total) grace the floors of galleries in the Heritage Buildings. Included in the line-up is Mud Cracks, located in the Gallery of Canada: First Nations Peoples.

 

The exhibit features kayaks and canoes displayed in crystalline showcases; on the floor are two Mud Cracks carpets, deep red with sinewy lines breaking through in random patterns.

“We had to be very sensitive in our interpretation,” says Pourvakil. “We feel the idea of cracks in the mud works well with First Nations art.”

 

The Gallery of Chinese Architecture, The Gallery of Korea and The Gallery of Japan also include W Studio rugs. In each case, the culture, plus colour, texture, artifacts and flooring were taken into consideration during the carpets’ design.

 

By 2007, the ROM’s expansion project will be completed and the museum will house 29 carpets designed and donated by W Studio.

 

As with other types of art, the crafting of a handmade rug – whether the style is traditional or contemporary - begins with an inspiration.

 

In the case of one award-winning piece by W Studio, called Horizon, Alan Pourvakil was struck by a beautiful sunset he witnessed while flying home from a design show.

 

“I recreated that sunset with over 30 shades of colour, top-of-the-line Tibetan weave and 100% New Zealand wool,” says Pourvakil, who has been in the carpet business since 1989.

An 8 ft. (2.4m) x 10 ft. (3m) Horizon handmade rug retails for $4,995.

 

If the beginning is a seed of an idea, and the end is a finished product available for purchase in a local rug store, what lies in between? Making your dream carpet a reality as many hands from across the globe put the looms in motion. Knot-by-knot. Some are located in Nepal, others are from Pakistan, India, China.

 

They are the spinners (spinning wool into yarn), dyers (using vegetable or synthetic dyes), winders (winding spun and dyed wool into balls of yarn) and, finally, the weavers.

Lobsang Chozin was one of them. She is a Tibetan living here since 2002 with her four children. She and her husband own Master Weaver, a Nepalese-based manufacturer of Tibetan Carpets.

 

Chozin comes from a long line of family weavers.

 

“Like every traditional Tibetan family, we produced all our own clothing, shoes, blankets, ropes, threads and carpets. My sisters and I were trained in the field at a very early stage of our life. I recall sitting by my mother every evening doing my share of spinning wool, even in exile,” she says.

 

In 1959, the year many Tibetans went into exile, two-year-old Lobsang Chozin and her family fled to Nepal. There they lived in a Tibetan refugee camp doing what they knew best: weaving handmade rugs. Eventually the family set up their own private weaving company.

Now Chozin and her husband own Master Weavers. Their handmade rugs, which are made with 100% Himalayan sheep wool, have a modern aestheticism but are based on the centuries-old classic Tibetan designs. Many of the designs carry meanings and symbolisms.

“The designs we use in Tibetan carpets are all symbols for auspiciousness, good luck, good fortune, longevity, prosperity, harmony and enlightenment,” Chozin explains. “Among the floral designs the most common and important is the lotus. The lotus symbolizes enlightenment, perfection and perfect purity. Its growth, from seed to a fully blooming flower, symbolizes the stages of human spiritual levels.”

 

Chozin’s handmade rugs range in price from $400 for 2 ft. (61cm) x 3 ft. (91cm) to $8,500 for 9 ft. (2.7m) x 12 ft. (3.6m) They are available at Alborz Persian Rugs on Yonge Street near St. Clair.

 

According to Yousef Akmal, who, along with his father runs the carpet company, “Chozin has the best handmade Tibetan carpets in the business. Many others are too simple.

 

“You can get lost in the rug,” he adds. “You can sit and stare at the design and 15 minutes can pass just like that. Like other works of art, handmade rugs can transport you to another place and time.”

 

Good quality handmade carpets are works of art. The variety from Persian to Tibetan, from traditional to contemporary, plus the range of colours rivals the selection found in any other medium.

But just because you fall in love with a certain rug you see in a store, doesn’t mean it’s the right one for your room.

 

Anne Star found this out the hard way. “The first rug I purchased five years ago wasn’t right. I had to find a new home for it,” she recalls. Star admits that choosing the right rug is difficult. “I’ve spent lots of time and energy on it, but it’s certainly a learning experience.”

Whether you’re purchasing a rug for a room with existing furniture or one that offers a blank slate, a good place to begin is with the size.

 

Michael Pourvakil is president and founder of Weavers Art on Davenport. He is the brother and former business partner of Alan Pourvakil (W Studio). Here Michael offers some general guidelines for determining rug size:

 

• Dining Room – The rug should be 12 inches (30 cm) to 18 inches (46 cm) away from the wall, with a minimum of 2 ft. (61cm) on each side of the table for chairs to sit fully and flatly on the rug. For a standard dining room table measuring 3 ft. (91 cm) x 6 ft. (1.8m) the rug should be 8 ft. (2.4m) x 10 ft (3m).
• Living Room – Keep the rug 2 ft. (61cm) away from the wall. The front leg of the sofa should be at least 6 inches (15 cm) to 8 inches (20 cm) on top of the rug. For open concept spaces, it’s better to go with a larger rug for continuity.
• Interior Designer Robyn Clarke says be prepared to try a few different designs and colour schemes. She recommends considering the room’s lighting (natural and artificial), as it is a factor in how the colours are presented.

 

Another tip: “Carpet on carpet is not a good look,” says Clarke. “But putting a soft surface on a hard surface works.” Finally, be aware of other patterns in the room. You don’t want a floral rug pattern fighting with striped pillows and curtains.

 

 

Side Bar: Caring For Your Handmade Wool Rug. Information courtesy of Michael Pourvakil, Weavers Art.

 

General tips

• Heavy furniture should be placed on the carpet in the direction of the pile (like the grain of wood). Use coasters for heavier furnishings.
• Rotate your rug at least once per year to avoid dramatic fading from light and traffic.
  When vacuuming, avoid using a beater bar. Instead, opt for a bristle attachment without a brush.
• Vacuum in the direction of the pile.

 

Cleaning tips

• Have the rug cleaned by a professional carpet cleaning company one to seven years as needed (based on wear and tear).
• For water-based and oil-based stains, place a paper towel on top in the direction of the pile. Let it absorb. Then apply some carbonated soda water. Let sit for 10 seconds and blot with pile.
• If you don’t have soda water on hand, mix a solution of ½ white vinegar and ½ room temperature water. Apply a teaspoon of the solution. After 10 seconds, blot with paper towel in direction of pile.
• If spillage has soaked through, lift up the carpet to increase airflow and blow-dry with pile.
  Wax - Let it dry. Then place napkin on top and iron (note: iron must be dry). Wax will be pulled up.
• Gum – Place an ice cube on gum until hardened, then scrape it off.
• Red Wine – Use soda water technique as above.