Dahlov Ipcar sounded like the ever-practical Mainer when asked what she thought about the idea of people walking on her art.

“Well, if they stay true to my design and pay me a commission, it’s fine with me,” said Ipcar, 93, from her home in Georgetown.

Ipcar is a nationally known artist, so no one will actually be walking on her original art anytime soon. But they could walk on a new line of rugs depicting her art.

“The Dahlov Ipcar Collection” includes four rugs and four pillows featuring images of dogs and cats done by the artist over the years.

Ipcar isn’t the only Mainer with a new artistic spin on rugs this year. Portland designer Angela Adams — nationally known for handbags, furniture and textiles — has come out with a new line of area rugs called “Pathways.”

Adams’ new rugs mimic natural areas — forests, gardens, streams — not only in color and design, but in texture and shape. They are neither round nor square. Instead, their borders curve in and out at irregular intervals.

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The surface of each rug has various shapes — to suggest rocks or moss patches, for instance — giving it lots of different textures and making it decidedly not flat.

“The inspiration for these rugs is so naturally textural and sculpted — I didn’t think of doing it another way,” said Adams. “I love pathways and old grassy roads and trails. The way they meander and roll around rocks, plants, shrubs and trees in an unexpected way is very inspiring to me.”

Although the new rug lines of Adams and Ipcar are both inspiring and artistic, they are different in important ways.

Ipcar didn’t specifically design the rugs in her collection, for instance. The rugs were designed by Barbara Barran of Classic Rug Collection in New York.

Barran had met Ipcar’s son, Robert Ipcar, in New York and began looking at his mother’s work online. Barran then approached Ipcar about doing rug and pillow lines.

Barran chose dog and cat images from existing Ipcar work, including her children’s books “The Cat at Night” and “Black and White.” She took other images from the book “The Art of Dahlov Ipcar.”

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Two of the rugs measure 2 by 3 feet and sell for $229. One is titled “Black and White Dogs” and is from the book “Black and White,” while the other is called “Cats on a Fence” and is from “The Cat at Night.”

The other two rugs measure 3 by 5 feet and sell for $499. One is a portrait of one of Ipcar’s own dogs, Celeste, while the other is “Cats on Roof” from “The Cat at Night.” They’re made of canvas with wool thread.

Ipcar likes the way the rugs came out. She thinks the use of hand-sewn chain stitches allowed her images to be reproduced very faithfully.

She also thinks most people will probably hang the rugs on walls, or at least put them in places without a lot of foot traffic.

But Ipcar herself owns one of the “Celeste” rugs, and has it on the floor next to her bed.

“It’s nostalgic for me, and it looks good there,” she said.

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Barran plans to come out with more rugs based on Ipcar’s works. For now, they are for sale at some Maine boutiques and museums, and online at shopclassicrug.com.

Adams’ rugs are different because she is the designer of the pieces. And her rugs, while artistic, are definitely made to be walked on.

“They are easy to care for, and the added luxury of the thick shapes and various textures feels great underfoot,” she said.

Adams’ rugs are priced like art, at $1,800. They come in one size, 3 feet by 8 feet. They are all made of 100 percent New Zealand wool.

There are three styles — “Woods,” “Garden,” and “Stream.” Each has shapes and texture depicting the elements found in those natural settings. In “Stream,” you can see currents and various depths of water, as well as rocks and sand.

Adams enjoys designing rugs because of the impact they can have on a room, whether it’s with color, patterns, texture or acoustics.

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“(Area rugs) can enhance an interior with color or pattern — or they can almost disappear and have more of an ethereal presence with subtle color and texture,” Adams said.

“It all depends on what kind of energy you want that room to have and what the key function of the room is.”

Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:

rrouthier@pressherald.com

Twitter: RayRouthier

 


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