Art On The Floor

Reconnext by Jenny Jones

The Art of Storytelling

Internationally acclaimed rug designer Jenny Jones has a passion for storytelling, but rather than words, she shares her narrative through art. “To express my memory, a person or emotions, the canvas of a rug has been a wonderful place to tell my story,” she says. 

For the Australia-based designer, the art of designing rugs is deeply personal; each piece is an artistic representation of a memory, an emotion, or a relationship. “Being dyslexic, my world and imagination have always been in pictures; I have always held my experiences in color stories not words,” she says. “When someone talks to me, I am almost creating a film in my head,” she explains. “The rugs are my storybooks so to speak.”

“To express my memory, a person or emotions, the canvas of a rug has been a wonderful place to tell my story.” — Jenny Jones

Reconnext

This storytelling is evident in the Reconnext by Jenny Jones collection, a manifestation of Jones’ relationships and life experiences. “I called it Reconnext because I so believe in connection and relationships—they’re the essence of life, that is what life is about.” The collection’s Kokomo rug, for instance, was inspired by Jones’ husband, Dennis, who was an avid surfer in the 1970s. The rugs’ leaflike shapes are a nod to classic seventies longboards, their sorbet color scheme inspired by the outfits Jones often wore during that chapter in her life. 

“All my rugs have names representing a moment in my life, a love, a person,” she says. “It makes them like my babies. Most of the time it takes nearly nine months to create from start to finish, and then sometimes I just can’t bear parting from them.” Like each knot that makes up a hand-knotted rug, she says, every design she creates “is a moment from my life.”

Staying Inspired

And if rugs are the pages of her story, Jones rarely experiences writers’ block. “My mind rarely stops, as I am always seeing wonderful things, especially with nature and emotions and people,” she says.”I have a thousand designs but unfortunately can only produce so many.”

Her advice for staying inspired? “Be real and true to yourself. Each of us is unique and beautifully made, so what you create is an extension of you. Trust yourself. That has always kept me in awe.”