Local Port Elgin resident Doug Dawson has become a bona fide ‘hooker’.
His interest began as a restoration project for his grandmother’s ‘legacy’ rug that she had created for him. From that, his interest grew into what has now become a passion as he continues to create hooked works of art for his family.
Just as his grandmother had created a ‘legacy’ rug for him, Dawson decided that he would also create ‘legacy’ rugs for his five grandsons.
Each of his five grandsons received a rug based on their individual interests. From hockey to the beach, baseball to art and nature, each was lovingly created during a time of pandemic lockdown, when time was all that many people had away from their families.
Then, Dawson decided to tackle a project for his daughter Laura.
Each hooked square depicts a time and interest in her life. From being born to frolicking on the beach as a child to getting her driver’s license at 16 and then driving the family on a vacation through the mountains of Pennsylvania, her wedding and finally having her own family.
Today, the art hangs in her daughter’s family cottage in Gobles Grove on Lake Huron where it is a reminder not only of her life but of her father’s memories of her growing up.
Last, but not least, is Doug Dawson’s memory legacy for his son William that he created as a special Christmas gift this year (2023).
In the centre is his young son, who was born premature and remained in an incubator for some time. From there, like the spokes of a wheel, Dawson has captured the stages of his son’s life and his love of sports, from playing baseball to running and cycling and his summers on Lake Huron, boating and kayaking. Then, there is his time when he had a summer job as a teen selling fries and, as an adult when he had Michael’s Coffee House, depicted by a steaming cup of coffee.
Behind his creations are the ‘backings’ and edges by renown local ‘hooker’ Sybil Mercer. His son’s rug is backed with a plaid that harkens to the family’s Scottish history.
Each section of the ‘wheel is a memory … a memory of his son as he grew and pursued the things that he loved … a Christmas gift that will be a memory legacy through the years just as Dawson’s grandmother’s is for him.
