My rugs and wall hangings begin with an inspiration: either a geometric motif or a tickle of color blend that I notice somewhere in my world. I graph out a design and then pick the fabrics. I study how the textures and colors relate, how the printed images make patterns. I tweak and blend until the colors speak to the geometric shapes and vice versa, until together they dance and sing. My hand-woven rugs combine the lively color-fields of rag rugs with the geometric possibilities of tapestry.

Sara Hotchkiss began weaving tapestry at Skidmore College in her first weaving class in 1974; initially using wool yarn and traditional methods for both flat, pictorial tapestries and sculpture. She began experimenting with cotton fabric in 1976 and since then, has been refining this material/technique and it's relationship to color, geometric shape and texture. Sara Hotchkiss weaves and designs for the floor or wall on 12' Swedish rug looms from her studio in coastal Maine.