Maxine Ennis grew up in Sibley's Cove, Trinity Bay. She has a vivid early memory of local women gathering each summer to wash out their mats (hooked rugs) and have a boil-up at the beach in Sibley's Cove.

“My mother and my grandmothers were extremely good knitters and sewers,” Ennis adds, “so I was exposed to craft early. I had seen rug-hooking—but never tried it.” Never until 2002, that is, when she signed up for a six-hour workshop with Elizabeth Tucker at the Anna Templeton Centre in St. John's. “I loved it from the start,” she says. “I feel very connected to my past when I can carry on this craft that was so important to my mother and grandmothers.” Since then, she's taken training workshops, both locally and internationally.

Recently retired, Ennis taught at the elementary-school level in schools in St. John's, Mt. Pearl, and Goulds for many years. She attended a number of art courses and workshops during this period, and is appreciative of having more time now “to create and to share.” She has taught some rug hooking courses to adults and to children's groups.

She is drawn to subjects that are part of everyday life. Ennis generally works from photographs, but she finds designing from memory particularly rewarding. Mat hooking allows Ennis the opportunity for self-expression through style, texture, and colour.

Ennis has exhibited her rugs at the Craft Council Gallery, and at Five Islands Gallery in Tors Cove. She is a member of the Rug Hooking Guild of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the international Association of Traditional Hooking Artists.

Image shown: "Wind Blown Pitcher Plants" 38 x 28 cm (15 x 11")