Translating Artwork into Wool: Heather Chontos Rugs By Layered of Stockholm

Heather Chontos paints exuberantly in an abstract language all her own. Raised in upstate New York, she’s a self-taught artist, a mother of two, and a citizen of the world: Heather and her daughters have lived everywhere from London to Maine, with stops in Tanzania and New Zealand, too.

We met not so long ago when Heather had her own 18th-Century Stone Farmhouse and Barn Studio in Southwest France. She and her younger daughter and their “following” of animals—three horses, five dogs, two chickens—have since settled in Portugal’s Alentejo, where Heather has been creating a new home and energetically leaving her mark: she had a solo show last month at Artmozphere in The Hague, and Swedish design house Layered has just introduced a trio of hand-knotted rugs that re-create Heather’s work in wool.

“Translating her paintings onto another surface without losing their energy required remarkable precision,” says Layered founder Malin Glemme. Come see the results.

Photography by Mike Karlsson Lungren, courtesy of Layered.

Above: Heather says she makes art “impulsively, intuitively, and out of necessity—as a way of living and seeing.” Shown here, her Blue Lake rug. Above: “I admire Heather’s artistry and her ability to capture movement and energy,” says Malin. Here, a large painting of Heather’s harmonizes with a rug called Kaleidoscope. Above: A proponent of waste-free living, Heather likes to work on found surfaces and directly on walls. Rather than using brushes, she often spreads paint with castoff plastic cards (such as credit cards and hotel keys) and applies crayon-like oil pigment sticks in broad strokes. Above: Heather’s daily routine always includes communing with her animals. Above: “Each rug in the Heather Chontos collection takes five to ten days to complete, depending on size, and requires two and often three skilled artisans,” notes the Layered website. “With 10 to 15 shades per rug, weavers must carefully switch yarns while meticulously following the pattern.” Above: Collage. The rugs are made in Bhadohi, India, of 100-percent New Zealand wool and are Goodweave certified—meaning they’re created under fair working conditions and made from responsibly sourced, sustainable materials. They come in four sizes (custom also available). Prices start at $3,290 for a 5’11” x 8’10” rug. Above: Blue Lake. To capture the depth and variation of the colors in Chontos’s paintings, Layered’s artisans applied several dyeing techniques: “these include space dyeing, where yarn is dyed in multiple shades for a vibrant effect; solid dyeing, which creates a uniform, distinctive color; and abrash dyeing, which introduces subtle color shifts for a natural finish.” Above: The rugs can also be wall-hung: see Trend Alert on Modern Wall Hangings. This one is Kaleidoscope.

See more of Heather’s work on her website and on Instagram.

More rugs to admire:

• Premium Bohemian: Danish-Desighed Cappelen Dimyr Rugs and Coverlets
• Currently Coveting: Wool Rugs Inspired By Poems
• Living with Pattern: Combining Wallpaper, Fabric, and Rugs with Vanderhurd

And here’s advice on How to Track Down Ethically Made, Eco-Friendly Rugs.