With a total of 12 children between them, two creative mothers have hit upon an artistic solution to the age-old problem of trying to combine kids and well-designed floor coverings.
After washing, dry-cleaning and spot-treating their offspring`s inevitable spills on cotton dhurries, rag rugs and wool rugs, artists and sisters Judy Gigliotti and Jane Feil decided there had to be a better floor covering. They turned to a centuries-old idea of a ”floorcloth,” a decorated fabric or lightweight mat used to brighten a floor in place of heavier-weight rugs.
Gigliotti and Feil`s variety of contemporary, colorful designs go beyond most modern floorcloths that emulate patterns from the past. The sisters hand- paint designs in Gigliotti`s Santa Monica, Calif., garage-cum-studio, and the work is striking enough to hang on a wall, though the artists have dubbed their collection Off the Wall. Painted on heavyweight canvas cut and sewn to standard small rug sizes, the floorcloths, in a stroke of maternal genius, are coated in practical and easy-to-wipe-clean acrylic.
”We don`t consider these paintings,” Gigliotti says. ”We think of them as area rugs, functional art that is meant to be walked on.”
A potter by training, Gigliotti last year teamed with Feil, who studied figurative painting in college and who has written and illustrated children`s books. They have created an evolving collection of about 25 patterns, which are duplicated by hand-painting or re-created in colors and sizes specified by special-order customers.
Feil first brought some samples to Chicago on a trip home (Gigliotti and Feil, nee Wexler, were born and raised here). A quick tour of local art shops and galleries introduced their idea to several enthusiastic retailers.
”We haven`t seen a lot like this out there,” says Morgan Friedman, manager of Material Possessions, 54 E. Chestnut St., one of the Chicago-area stores. ”The designs are unbelievable and so intricate that you couldn`t get it in a carpet.”
Some floormats they sell end up as wall hangings, according to Peggy Wolf, co-owner of Chiaroscuro, 750 N. Orleans St., and Lori Anosov, owner of Masterworks Gallery, Highland Park.
”They have translated (an old idea) to contemporary styling,” says Mary Donaldson, director of Objects Gallery in the Merchandise Mart.
Retail prices range from about $150 for a 2-by-3-foot rug to about $1,000 for a 5-by-7-foot area rug. Price is determined by square foot, so floorcloths can be special-ordered in even larger sizes. Most orders are shipped within six weeks.
When asked to describe how their style compares to other floormats, Gigliotti says, ”We think it is contemporary, whimsical.” ”And more fun,” Feil adds.
